In the age of Tinder and Bumble, dating has made tremendous strides in the last decade. Gone are the days where you wait around to find the right guy or girl, hoping you just might run across him or her out at the bar or happenstance at a yoga class. Gone are the days where you have to rely on true fate to set you up with the perfect one.
Now, your potential date could be waiting for you, just one right swipe away.
With that being said, with seemingly endless options, you have to be at least a little selective in your choices. It may be tempting to base your decision solely on how they look, but keep in mind, someone may be incredibly copulationy, but if they have no substance to them, that will get real old quick.
So before you go and swipe right for mister washboard abs holding a puppy, take the time to read his bio. Does it contain anything you’re remotely interested in, or is it filled with egocentric babbling? I can almost guarantee that your date will not go well if he’s only interested in talking about himself. Who wants to date someone like that?
Other online dating sites are a complete time suck – making you fill out every last detail about yourself, leaving almost nothing to be discussed. That’s where Tinder and Bumble come in handy. It requires very minimal information input. Because really who has time to spend hours creating a profile?
Also, Tinder and Bumble are completely free unless you want to buy their more advanced options. And in a time where millennials are in over their heads in college debt, who wants to take the chance on a dating site that requires monthly fees?
Of course, there comes some risk to anything related to online dating. You never know who the person is going to be when they show up – you’ve only gotten to know them in the virtual world.
Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind when meeting up for the first time:
1. Ask For His/Her Social Media
Most everyone is aware of the great TV show, Catfish, that often depicts people finding out that they have been talking to someone who looks completely different than their pictures, and sometimes even completely different genders.
To avoid this happening to you, I suggest you add them on snapchat. By doing so you can get a good look at them before you meet up.
Also, sometimes people post old pictures of themselves, so this lets you see what they look like currently.
Be sure also to check out their Facebook; it allows you to get a better understanding of who they are, where they came from and what their interests are.
2. Meet Up In Public
To be on the safe side, I suggest first meeting in public somewhere even if you’ve been talking for some time. They are still a stranger, and meeting up at a cafe or restaurant would be the safest bet.
This also allows you to be more at ease since meeting up with someone you don’t know can be scary enough in itself.
3. Bring A Friend
I’ve also heard stories of girls asking their friends to come along on the date too. This might sound kind of weird. Why would you bring your friend on a date meant for two?
But don’t worry, they don’t like third wheel, but rather sit a couple of tables over, as a bystander just in case.
4. Tell Someone Where You’re Going
Again, just to be on the safe side (you never know in this day and age) tell someone where you’re going. Just in case something does happen, they’ll have some idea of where you were and who you were with.
5. Enjoy Yourself
Lastly, the most important tip of them all is to simply enjoy yourself. Enjoy getting to know someone from the start. Now is when you begin to develop the foundation of a "could be" relationship.
So the next time you find yourself getting ready to meet on a bumble/tinder date, remember these five tips. Be safe. Have fun. And if you happen to get Catfished, hey, at least you’ll get a good story out of it!
