The Internet has made dating so much easier than in years past. Before one had to go to one of those happening clubs and hit on everything within a five mile radius before they found someone desperate enough to agree to your date offer. Now people can just spam other people on online dating sites until they agree to meet up with them for an inevitable lackluster date and never speak of it again. Unfortunately, the Internet has yet to fix the awkwardness of first dates.
Regardless, online dating does contain its own pitfalls that come along with the digital era. Namely people attempting to scam you under the guise of being a hot, young blonde woman who is ready to become committed to a serious relationship. The security pros at ADT have compiled this handy infographic that gives online daters some handy tips to avoid scams and broken expectations. It also gives some general dating tips to help you score the perfect match.
First is the number of people using online dating services – 5.5 million. When people say there are other fish in the sea, they’re not lying. The trick is to get one of those 5.5 million online daters to bite. The key to that is finding a common interest. The top four common interests that online daters look for are bands, foods, movies and books. You better start pretending to like Justin Bieber to impress those ladies at OKCupid.
In news that warms my heart, people are 20 percent less likely to respond to messages with bad grammar. So please, stop using “ur” and “y” and “luv” in your messages. It’s not sexy and it’s not going to get you a date.
So you’ve found the perfect match online. You both like the same bands and movies. You both have impeccable grammar. Turns out that they may still be a liar and a cheat with 81 percent of online daters misrepresenting themselves. For men, they lie about their age, height and income. Women lie about their age, body and height.
So you’ve found the perfect date and they didn’t lie about themselves online. You’re about to go on your first date. Protip: Don’t see a movie. Fifty percent of women prefer to have dinner with the man picking up the tab. Impress her with that trip to Waffle House and she’ll be yours in no time.
If all goes well, you’re well on your way to tying the not. Seventeen percent of all online daters got married last year – that’s 280,000 marriages.
Check out the rest of the infographic for more tips and tricks and good luck, you’re going to need it.
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Online Dating Safety Advice for First Time Users Infographic by ADT Home Security