Gone fishing!!

So let's just say I haven't been the luckiest in love. I seem to be a magnet for the unemployed, un-motivated douchey/crazy guys. I am very independant and a giver! I give too much while the guys in my life just take! So since my past relationships or lack there of have made a me a little jaded, I came up with the great idea of hopping onto some online dating site called Plenty of Fish!

I live in a hillbilly town, population 1100 give or take. On my profile I had to change my city because I got a ton of Creepers that were familiar with my town so they would ask which of the 2 bars I worked at. I met one guy who was employed, sweet and nice on the eyes. He would come here for work twice a week and we would meet for lunch or coffee. Come to find out he was just looking for a casual hook up (his profile said long term), he couldn't even be a "gentleman" and call it off with me he just stopped messaging me! Oh well his loss!

I must admit I met some interesting people and let's be real here isn't that the point of online dating? Dating is complicated. You need to have a lot of guts to be able to impress people to get to know you. I don't want to bash online dating or steer you away from trying it, to each their own I just want to meet someone the old fashioned way now. Like they say "don't knock it til you try it" I gave it a go and it just isn't for me, so I deleted my profile. I want to write a Playbook like Barney Stinson...Challenge Accepted!

So with that being said here are a few words of advice when leaping into the online dating pool (test the water with your toes first, no jumping right in!) 

Control yourself  
 Your online self that is! Do a Google search of yourself to see what information is available online about you. You can find your home address, relatives’ names and other personal information is posted out there for all to see. Do you want every potential date to have access to that kind of information? Of course not! So get on Facebook and Twitter and set your stuff to Private, decide which Instagram photos you want to be private or friends-only. And always make sure your location is turned off when you Tweet or post things online!
  
Pace yourself
 You wouldn’t drop by your date’s place of employment 8 times a day to see what they were up to, so show the same kind of discretion in making virtual contact. Too much social media interplay can be annoying and make you appear needy. You need to set some boundaries!

Do some homework
 Do a little homework/background check on a potential Mr/Mrs Right, you don't want to get Catfished into thinking your talking to someone who you really aren't. If they won't send you a photo of them that isn't posted on the site you met them through that's a red flag! People tend to post old photos. Essentially, photos don’t always reflect the truth.

 

 Safety is key
 As you embark on your online dating journey, stay away from sites known for shady practices, for example good ol' Craigslist and BackPage are some that are known to be used by dangerous people. This site has nothing in place to help filter people. Anyone can say anything they want on Craigslist or BackPage and you have no way to verify whether they are a “normal” person looking for a date or a violent person looking for their next victim.

Use your social media outlets wisely to present yourself, protect yourself, and find the right person for you. Then spend some quality time together – offline.