The Ultimate Safety Guide to Online Dating
The world of online dating can be a scary place, especially if you have security concerns. Staying safe while dating online is completely doable if you make sure to follow these online dating safety tips.
1) Meet in a Public Place
The number one and foremost way to keep safe while dating online is to make sure that if you do plan a meetup, make a date in a very public place, this is to ensure that if you do at any point feel uncomfortable or want to leave you can easily speak to someone around you and ask for help. Hopefully, this isn't the case and you end up having a really nice time.
2) Have your own Transportation
Drive yourself to and from your date, or take public transportation, having your match pick you up for your first personal meeting is a horrible idea, as much as you feel you know them from speaking online, don't do it, because not only will they know where you live but you will literally be in a car with a stranger. Protect yourself by saving the joint car rides for a later date.
3) Protect your Cellphone Number
Try to avoid giving your cellphone number out to just anyone and everyone, unless you don't mind to be harassed by people or matches that just didn't work out, If you're concerned about giving out your phone number, you can create a free Google Voice number. It's an app you download that gives you a separate number to give to dates.
4) Tell a Friend Specific Details about your Date
Telling your buddy about your upcoming date is a good start, but if you really want to stay safe, give them plenty of details about your plans, send them a link to your date's online dating profile so that they have your back, this way you can probably relax and enjoy your date more than you otherwise would have.
5) Use a Different Profile Picture than the One you have on your Social Media Pages.
Using the same profile picture in your online dating profile than all of your other social media profiles may seem harmless, but it really isn't. It's way too easy for someone to run a Google image search on your photos, and in turn, find out a whole crap-ton of personal information about you. So no matter how strong your Instagram game is, make sure the selfies you use in your online dating profile can't be found anywhere else on the Internet.
6) Don't Give your Full Name Until After the First Date
while you want to be completely authentic in your profile, you want to be careful about any overly personal details you reveal that may make you easy to find on Google, Yes people could possibly get digital access to your personal background just by searching for you online, so no full names until after you meet.