The internet has allowed people to connect with friends and family from all around the world. With technology like online gaming people are enabled to share experiences and hobbies even with strangers. One area that was still unaffected was dating because people still prefer to meet their partners physically. This is now changing due to Covid-19 and most countries placing people under lockdown and/or social distancing.
In the past few weeks, downloads of dating apps and visits to dating websites have increased dramatically as people explore online dating. This is good news for you because it means you have the chance to ‘meet’ a lot more potential partners now that more people are joining these online dating services. On the other hand, competition will also become fiercer with so many fish in the sea, so to say. Don’t let this discourage you, though, because all you need is to improve your online dating game. With these 5 tips, you should be able to stand out and attract the potential love of your life, a good friend or simply a hookup after things calm down.
Find Some Great Photos of Yourself
First impressions matter a lot especially in online dating because you can immediately capture someone’s attention before they keep scrolling or swiping. This is why you have to pick the best photos of yourself. It’s not so easy to do this even if you have hundreds of photos on your phone, but there are a few tips to remember.
The most important is to smile, which naturally makes you more approachable to everyone. Men often have a problem with this because they think it seems weak but in truth, a smile will always beat a scowl every time. You also need to be looking directly at the camera, at least in one of your photos. Just like during a physical date, eye contact is still important even if it is through a screen. Many dating experts discourage selfies, so you should keep those to a minimum and ask a friend to take a picture of you.
Another thing to note is that a single picture won’t do. Instead, select about 3 – 6 pictures with your headshot as the main picture. The other pictures should include some full body shots with you dressed up casually and doing some activity you love. Pictures are worth a thousand words, and you can portray a lot about yourself in pictures than you could ever do with the words in your profile.
Make Your Profile Unique
There are a lot of clichés we have all become accustomed to whenever we look through people’s social media pages. You have probably already heard of phrases like adventurous, fun-loving, and the like. Now imagine seeing these same phrases on a person’s dating profile? You would most likely skip ahead because it’s so predictable and boring. What you need to remember is that once a person has looked at your photo and is now reading your profile, it already shows some interest.
Therefore, now would be the time to capture their interest even more and start a conversation. Begin by making your profile personal and compelling in order to become unique even if it might not appeal to everyone. After all, your goal is to meet that one person, right? So, do not be afraid of revealing some information about yourself as that will make you more personable.
One fun way of revealing information about yourself is by being more specific. For example, rather than saying you’re a good cook, you could say that you love to cook a particular dish. That would not only make the profile unique, it’s also a conversation starter that someone can easily pick up on and have an easier time sending you a message.
Talk About Yourself, but Only up to a Certain Point
It may sound narcissistic to talk about yourself, but in online dating this is what you want to go for… up to a point. What this means is that you want to focus on your personal qualities and not a list of what you want or don’t want from the other person. You must know those profiles that are basically a list of turnoffs and demands which immediately turn everyone off. No one wants to date or even meet someone who sounds bitter and petty, so don’t be that guy or girl.
Besides, this doesn’t really tell the reader anything about you, only what you don’t like or hate and someone will not know what you do like. Try to include information about yourself that could be of interest to someone else, but do not overdo it. You will be overdoing it if your profile starts to read like an autobiography about your high school, books, movies, travel destinations, etc. Keep it brief and interesting as you save the rest for an actual date.
Craft that First Message Carefully
How you respond to that first message will determine your success or failure because this is the second impression. That being said, it will depend largely on whether you’re the one initiating the conversation or responding to the first message. In the first case, you should avoid any obvious greetings and instead start with something you noticed from their profile.
Avoid being overly flirtatious in this message, although a compliment is acceptable. When receiving the first message, your job is easier and all you need to do is pick up from what the person said. You should always start on a light note at this point and make some small talk.
Have Fun
Once you are engaged in a conversation with someone, that’s the time to let your personality shine. Online dating should be fun – a break from the daily grind where you can meet some interesting people and connect. Considering how things are dull right now, the last thing you want to be is a bore to the other person, so you need to keep it interesting. How do you keep things interesting, do you ask? Well, by having fun yourself and not taking things too seriously. As soon as you start to make a conversation feel like a job interview, you can bet the other person is already looking at other profiles.
There are many reasons why this is true, but the most important one is because it takes a lot of pressure away from you. As long as you don’t take a conversation too seriously, it will become more natural and perhaps a few jokes will even come through. Besides, this will encourage the other person to look forward to the next conversation with you because nobody likes a bore. However, this doesn’t mean that you should be arrogant because this will be an automatic turnoff.
Online dating can prove to be very rewarding especially in times like these. It’s very competitive now, so you’ll need to separate yourself from the rest. These 5 tips on how not to suck at online dating should really help. For more tips on online dating, do check out Dating Site Resource.