Honesty is the best policy when it comes to online dating

As the saying goes, ‘honesty is the best policy’, and nothing is more true than honesty in online dating. No matter what type of connection you wish to find, whether it be a long term relationship ending in marriage, a close friendship with benefits, or a long term relationship without marriage, you have to be honest about it. Below are some online dating tips that you will, hopefully, find helpful.

The first online dating tip I have is to do with honesty in your profile. There are many horror stories about people going on a date with someone they met online, only to realise that the person has lied about their age, their weight, their occupation, or all of the above. This can be very frustrating and even scary, and can turn you off online dating entirely.

While you can’t stop other people from lying in their profile, you can make sure that yours if fib free and honest. Include your birth date, not just your age, your height without heels or lifts, and your real hair colour. If you dye your hair, you can tell people what colour it currently is; make sure they know it’s not real.

But not too honest! You might be looking for a serious commitment online, but some people might be looking for a victim. We all know the obvious stuff; don’t include your home phone number on your profile page, don’t give anyone your home address, but there are other, sneakier ways that predators use to track people down. My second online dating tip is about your e-mail address. Think twice about using your work e-mail to sign up for an account. Work e-mails generally have your first and last name and the name of the company where you work. It would not take long for somebody to track you down using this. Also in regards to work, make sure you are honest about what you do, but predators can track you down by where you work. It’s fine to say that you are a lawyer, or even to name your law firm, but don’t mention in your profile where your law firm is situated, e.g. the street address, or the complex where it is situated. Again, someone who wants to do you harm can put this information together and track you down when you don’t want to be found.

So please remember these online dating tips when you create your profile. Think twice about using your work e-mail address and giving out too much information about where you work. An honest, friendly person will not use this information against you, but some people might.