Not to be discouraged by the flawed system that is online dating sites/applications, I still subscribe to a number of them. What I realise is that most ladies who part-take in the exercise are completely oblivious to the fact that men cannot/are to stubborn to read between the lines.
I touched on some of the below in the previous post in what many concerned to be a crude fashion, so following then the socially acceptable version. Some pointers to help you help us and vice versa:
- Please state your age – ladies sometimes use photographs of themselves when they were younger; this makes it difficult to judge how old the person in question is and might lead to disappointment that might otherwise have been avoided. As a rule I won’t go on a date with (much) older women and it is my understanding that most women still date older guys as a rule as well.
- Don’t use avatars – as already stated, guys really suck at reading between the lines. If you use an avatar instead of a picture of yourself, what are you trying to tell us. Example in point: you might post a picture Angelina Jolie instead of your own. This could mean that you a.) look like Angie, b.) wished you looked like Angie, c.) are the real life personification of Lara Croft, d.) adopt orphans from all over the world as a hobby. See my dilemma?
- Don’t use pictures of your children – most applications leave space for stating whether you have any children or not. Posting pictures of your children is reckless and might potentially put them in danger from sexual predators. I do not wish to elaborate on this point much – suffice it to say that I feel very strongly about this one.
- Please state clearly what your goals are. Simply stating that you are single might leave a person to believe that you are making use of an online dating service in order to become involved in a romantic relationship with someone; I have a number of lady friends who use dating services as a means to spruce up their social lives and just meet people in general – ladies who relocated and are subsequently new to an area, tend to employ this tactic frequently … tell us that.
- …and finally, don’t tell us what you think we want to hear in order to improve your chances of finding a soul mate – inevitably you create the wrong impression or end up with someone under false pretenses. No one likes being lied to. We live in a time where it is acceptable to be open about your political, religious and social views – don’t be afraid to speak your mind. You might get less response as a consequence, but at least you’ll get a genuine response (most of the time).
Well it goes without saying that the above should apply to guys as well, but there’s no telling if a list this short would fulfill the needs of our female counterparts.