Tips to Protect yourself From Online Dating

With the wonderful move of Online Dating into the mainstream of our culture so that it is becoming The Norm, we must learn to protect ourselves while pursuing love and dating through Online Dating and Online Personals.

What's single girl to do to protect herself while pursuing love, sex, and romance with Online Dating Sites?

First of all, during the Getting Acquainted stage of Online Dating correspondence, when you are simply exchanging a few emails to before the man asks you out, trust your gut if you are feeling really uncomfortable.

Then here are Top 10 Tips to protect yourself with Internet Personals and Online Dating:

1. Do not give out where you live to a stranger online. Do not provide a stranger you haven't met yet with your home address.

2. Let the man give you his phone number first, then respond with yours to him. Give him a cell number. If your only cell number is with your office, it's time to get a personal cell phone number. This is one you need to feel comfortable giving out. He's asking for your number. If this is a man you're interested in meeting, give him your phone number. Yes, we're hard to get, but, oye, don't make it impossible!

3. For Date 0 you must meet in a public place where it is lighted, not a super crowded nor a super dark environment. Save going to a darkly light dance club together for later after you two have met and hit it off! Maybe for your second date!

4. Meet near where the lady lives. For Date 0 you need to meet near you, where the lady lives, not just in a good very public place.

This is not just good manners on behalf of the man displaying that he is a gentleman, but it is also for your safety.

You then know where it is safe to park, how to safely approach the restaurant or bar.

Men, be a gentleman and meet her over near where she lives. By doing so you display that you are a protective and providing man, not a guy looking to be her equal but only a buddy. Meeting near where the guy lives or "half way" is what friends do. We are aiming for sexual and romantic chemistry here, not being buddies. By doing so, you will distinguish yourself immediately as a Man who is thoughtful and thinking of her safety and displays masculine cherishing behavior towards her femininity.

5. If he doesn't post a photograph of himself online and wants you to start emailing him privately, respond sweetly with the autoresponse option they have a Yahoo! Personals about wanting his photo first. And then send no more messages until he either posts a photo or provides you with a way to view his photo safely online.

Providing you with his MySpace page isn't safe because it reveals your name and MySpace profile to him, and you may have more personal information (name of town where you live....) which you might not want him, a total stranger, to see.

6. Maybe post your residence town as 1 or 2 towns over from where you live if you live in the burbs. This is not lying in your profile, this is protecting yourself. Any adult will understand when you later reveal where you really live.

7. If he is saying his job/career is terribly public like he is a celebrity or public figure (yes, they are at the Online Dating Sites, too!) so he doesn't want to post his photo at his profile, he can email you the address of a website with his photo or cite his name to you.

Men are to protect ladies. If he is more protective of himself than you, forget him. Move on. He's a boy not a man. Men protect ladies. They gave their names, website photos from their news coverage, Yahoo! ID where they posted their photo, something.

If he wants you to email him or set up a separate email address just so he can email you his photo, oye, he's expecting you to go to a lot of effort, and he hasn't even bought you a drink yet. If he is a man, he is making an effort to get you. If not, then not. I'm the pretty one, remember? I go to plenty of effort to look this gorgeous and sexy, and you are enjoying it, I know. Thank you for noticing. Bat, bat, flutter, flutter. However, I'm not making all the effort. Men seek to display their masculine prowess in pursuing us, bless their hearts. Don't you love it?

8. If the man starts to pester you for your personal contact information without revealing his first, just stop emailing with him. He's not worth it.

Remember, first, above all, protect YOU.

9. If a man gets belligerent with your online, block him and delete his messages. Remember, sometimes people are just being jerks. Maybe it was a really bad week at work. We're all human. Sometimes we are shrews. Whatever. Focus on what you want and move one. No need to obsess about it and panic. Just delete, block and move on.

10. Don't give out your personal email address until he has corresponded with you at the Online Dating site for at least 3 emails. You have more safety protection while you are still corresponding at Yahoo! Personals or Match.com than you do once you have moved over to your email account.

If he gets weird in some way where you are not comfortable while at the Online Dating website, you can block him easily and report him. Once over at your own email, he already has your personal email account.

Do be romantic and sensible while pursuing love online, don't you think? Because YOU are totally worth protecting!