The dating world changes regularly. Today, online dating is the main way in which people date, and the rules are quite different from what they were before the internet. This is why, if you are looking into online dating for singles, you need to know about the unwritten rules that govern it. While on the one hand, online dating for singles has made it easier than ever to find the love of your life (or simply a good time, for that matter), it has also complicated certain things, particularly for the newly singles. So let's take a look at the 20 rules you need to know about online dating.
1. Don't be modest because it puts people off.
2. Do not brag because it also puts people off. Essentially, you will need to find a balance, which just so happens to be reality.
3. Don't be obvious in your descriptions of yourself. Everybody likes music and hanging out with friends, for instance.
4. Don't ever tell a date that someone else wrote your profile for you. This will break any trust they may have had in you.
5. Keep your baggage in a locker and throw away the key. You can share your past, but at a later date, when you have become comfortable with someone.
6. Don't write a wish list the length of the Oxford Dictionary. Nobody can live up to that, and nobody will try.
7. Always add a photograph to your profile because it makes things more realistic.
8. Try to add more than one photograph, giving a better idea of who you are.
9. Do not use filters, don't PhotoShop, and don't airbrush yourself. And make sure the picture is recent.
10. Ditch the fake sexy snaps. Nobody actually looks like that, and most people actually look pretty stupid.
11. Don't fall for people because of their picture. That is lust, not love.
12. Be prepared not to get contacted at all. Maybe you need to make the effort?
13. Don't play hard to get. That is so 1990.
14. Don't reply if you don't want to. People in the online dating scene are used to not getting any replies (see point 12).
15. Don't email for years, but meet up in person as soon as possible. It is all too easy to build up a picture of someone through email that doesn't live up to expectations.
16. Have realistic expectations from a first date. Remember the aforementioned picture you build up of someone.
17. Be ready to have many first dates before finding someone you like enough to go on a second date.
18. Do split the bill. Women don't want to be catered to anymore, and men would like to see some independence.
19. Only have sex if you really want to have sex, whether that is on the first date or not.
20. Do ring the other person the next day. This goes back to not having to play hard to get anymore.