Online Dating - Six Ways to Protect Your Privacy in Cyberspace

Online dating is becoming more and more mainstream, as people from all walks of life plug in and find their soul mate in cyberspace. Here are six tips to finding that special someone while still maintaining your privacy and safety online.

1. Avoid large, public chat rooms where anything can (and does!) take place. Some people frequent these areas just to see what they can get away with. Instead, focus on smaller, more targeted web sites or chat rooms that match your interests or lifestyle. There are many online dating sites that cater to specific hobbies and several offer free trial memberships.

2. When you find a chat room, dating site, or forum that matches your interest, introduce yourself with only as much information as you feel comfortable giving. Don't plaster your phone number, address or any other personal information on the site. Wait until you meet someone with whom you truly "click" and have spoken to them for awhile. Common sense and that "gut feeling" are great indicators for when something just doesn't seem quite right.

3. Participate in the forum or chat room regularly. Keep it "low-key" until you start forming friendships with the regular members there. Be honest, and be yourself - after all, being natural is what will endear you to a particular mate.

4. Keep your correspondence limited to e-mail and chat until you get to know the person well enough to feel comfortable sharing your phone number and talking for the first time. If you need a good ice-breaker, start off the chat by talking about the forum or chat room where you met and any special interests that brought you two together.

5. If you decide to meet each other in person, choose a neutral, public place. You may even choose a town or city that's not the same as the one where you live. Restaurants, parks, theaters and other public places where people gather often are a good place to start. Alternately, you could choose to attend a special event in your area together, perhaps a concert, festival or fair. Either way, let friends or family know where you're going and who you're going with, as well as what time you'll be returning so they'll know how and where to reach you.

6. If you're interested in a few online "matches" that come your way, consider setting up a post office box and a free e-mail account to share information with each other. That way, if you come to find that you really don't "click" with this person, you won't feel as if you've given any personal contact information away.

If you follow these six tips, chances are you'll have a great time with your cyber date. Remember to be honest and be yourself! If you do, chances are that you'll find that perfect special someone who enjoys you for who you are!

Mike is an advisor for Online Dating. He has been tagged as an "Expert" in the topic of Online Dating for the past few years for his extraordinary advice. http://online-dating.eclicksoft.com


More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Dating Information:

Related Articles

How to Get More Responses at Online Dating Sites
So, you've decided to join a dating website. You're hoping someone out there will find something interesting about you and try to get to know you better.
Love Could Be An Errand Away
You have signed up on several large dating sites and posted a great profile. So far, you've had some nice responses, but these haven't led to a meeting yet.
The Key to Reaching the Next Level in Dating Success
Back in the days when I was a teenager, I actually had reasonable success with women, but it was far from consistent. Many of my behaviors and attitudes were anything but high-status.
Meeting Other Singles By Doing Something You Love
Meet Other Singles by Doing Something You LoveHere's one the best ways I have found to meet other singles while enjoying what you would do anyway.Create your own group to do something that you enjoy.
Dating Tips: How to Get Yourself A Date
Well, if you didn't give that someone a bad impression of yourself, chances are, both of you would be already friends at least? A friend, not being dislike by him or her? Ok, now it's the time you can progress a little further, taking a little more actions. But before so, it might be good to take notes of the followings:For Guys, please understand that girls enjoy the process of being pursued.
Dating On The Internet Is Growing! See How Online Dating Can Help You Find Available Singles Today
Dating on the Internet is growing rapidly year after year, because it has become very difficult for most people to meet quality singles in their local communities and find compatible matches!When it comes to meeting new people, we tend to create an urgency, and we put a large amount of stress on ourselves to unite with someone quickly, without taking the time to really get to know the person and see their true qualities.Where sometimes you just don't have all the answers on a date, the first thing you need to ask yourself is, what are you looking for?Are you looking to have fun and meet a variety of people on a casual basis, or do you want to seriously establish a relationship, which can eventually turn into a love match? The decision is yours!In the first meeting it's all about honesty, which most of us throw out the window on the first date! I know you heard it before, but it's true! As you begin the matchmaking process through different dating avenues, you will make your life so much simpler if you're totally honest with yourself and the person you're with.
Use The Fated Encounter For First Date Seduction Success
Every woman has a fantasy from the time she was a little girl, triggered by a constant diet of romance movies and novels, about fate bringing the man of her dreams to her.In one typical scene the guy and the girl almost bump into each other on the sidewalk.
Is Your Baggage Holding You Back?
Here you are single again and ready to re-enter the big scary world of dating, and like most everyone, you bring along "baggage". We all have it; some more than others, however, now is the time to analyze the necessity of that baggage in your new life.
Good Places to Meet Excellent Men
So, you're convinced that you have zero opportunities to meet men.Are you stuck in an office all day with the same stiffs day in and day out? Have you tried singles' dances, only to leave feeling worse than when you went in? Did the last loser your aunt set you up with squash your Chihuahua when he screeched up the driveway?Well, don't fret.
Top Ten Ways to Set Appropriate Expectations for Dating
1) Give yourself time to get back into the groove of datingIf you haven't dated in a while it may require an investment of time and effort on your part if you are ultimately looking for a soul-mate. As we get older and learn from our experiences our requirements for an ideal mate may change and some things that were must haves may become negotiable.
Top 10 Photo Blunders
The following no-nonsense list was compiled from interviews with long-time online daters and the business executives and support staff of several major online dating services. What's the bottom line? The single most important part of online dating is how you handle the simple act of representing yourself with photos.
Donald Trump and the Apprentice Rules Applied to Dating
I was reading an article about the Apprentice and some of the rules that Donald Trump and his apprentice assistants had come up with about business. While reading a lot of them I saw a huge relation to how these same rules also apply to dating as crazy as it might sound.
Adult Dating: Friend or Foe - Your Sex Life and the Internet!
There was a time when finding a date, partner, lover or playmate online was frowned upon. It was for people who couldn't get a date any other way!Oh how things have changed?not only can you sign up to a site listing thousands of singles who match your height, size, location and taste in food?now you can choose your sex partners too.
Meeting Your Online Date in Safety
Here are some common sense safety tips for meeting your online date in person. Your instincts will play a strong role in keeping you safe too, so listen to them and take action if you feel uncomfortable or alarmed at any time.
Free Online Chat! What Are The True Costs Of Free
As you're surfing the Internet and coming across titles claiming free online chat? What does this mean, and is it really for free?Most dating chat rooms and free online dating chat lines allege that the service they offer have no charge, but as you get familiar with a particular chat room, you soon find out there is a price associated to their online service!Now it all depends on what you're looking for in a chat service, and in order to find the right one for you without paying un-necessary fees!You should ask yourself, is this going to be for the free games, or for the entertainment of a chat room, where you can meet, and talk to interesting people from all over the world?Do you want to go a step further and get involved in free dating, and try and meet someone special for a possible love match.Chat rooms can be a great place to get your voice out into the world and get noticed; however, our goal is to inform you of your options, and that not all chat sites are created equal.
Internet Dating Tips for Beginners
There are lots of Internet dating sites available. Some are completely free and others are payable sites.
Confessions of a Professional Matchmaker
Don't make these mistakes when searching for love online!"I spent my life searching for the perfect woman. I finally found her but alas, she was searching for the perfect man.
Does Internet Dating Work?
What's the Number One Question that Everyone Asks About CyberDating?Everyone -- and that included YOU! -- wants to know: "Does Internet Dating Work?"Well, I KNOW it works, and in the best possible way, because I met my husband Drew on Match.com in May 1998.
Online Dating, Why Not?
So, you're looking to meet that "special someone". You have tried the bars, blind dates, churches, grocery stores, etc, all with little or no success.
Dating Rules You Cant Afford to Break
If you are single and you want men to desire your company more and truly cherish you, then here are eleven dating rules you cannot afford to break:1. Never go to bed with a man on the first date - As much as you would like to ravish the hunk you have a crush on, do not let him feel that you are cheap and easy by going to bed with him on your first date.