Netiquette
So there you sit, facing a mailbox full
of enchanting responses to your well-planned ad. Of course, if you
placed your ad on GirlDates.net,
you've already got pictures and bios
on your prospective dates. But if you're on AOL or another dating site,
you may be asking yourself, "Now what?"
Here are some tips:
1) Singles instant messages and chats start flirty and get steamy right off the bat. If you're not comfortable with chatting right away, then don't. IM's are a great way to communicate, but it puts you at a disadvantage because it requires an immediate response and reveals your vulnerabilities. Stick with e-mail to get a better feel for people, and decide when you feel comfortable chatting with a particular person.
2) Do you have a picture? For many potential relationships, this is a major turning point, and may determine whether or not the correspondence continues. This will weed out some of the respondents to your ad, and if you are tactful and kind in your replies to the 'not my type' folks, you can cultivate some good friendships, which can mean as much as a romance sometimes.
3) By the third e-mail, come clean with personal history and current events. Do you smoke? Do you have kids? Are you going through a divorce? Does your ex stalk you? Are you in jail? These are things you'll want to know pretty early on in your correspondence, and you owe it to your potential dates (and yourself) to 'fess up.
4) Still have some names left after all this? Great! It's time for another big hurdle - the phone call.
Here are some tips:
1) Singles instant messages and chats start flirty and get steamy right off the bat. If you're not comfortable with chatting right away, then don't. IM's are a great way to communicate, but it puts you at a disadvantage because it requires an immediate response and reveals your vulnerabilities. Stick with e-mail to get a better feel for people, and decide when you feel comfortable chatting with a particular person.
2) Do you have a picture? For many potential relationships, this is a major turning point, and may determine whether or not the correspondence continues. This will weed out some of the respondents to your ad, and if you are tactful and kind in your replies to the 'not my type' folks, you can cultivate some good friendships, which can mean as much as a romance sometimes.
3) By the third e-mail, come clean with personal history and current events. Do you smoke? Do you have kids? Are you going through a divorce? Does your ex stalk you? Are you in jail? These are things you'll want to know pretty early on in your correspondence, and you owe it to your potential dates (and yourself) to 'fess up.
4) Still have some names left after all this? Great! It's time for another big hurdle - the phone call.
