Thanks to technology, people can find love online. No need to go outside, social media and the Internet have made it so much easier for people to find someone to date. You need to understand that dating someone you met online is very different from dating someone you met in ‘real life’. There are certain things that need to be taken into consideration when it comes to online dating to have the relationship you dreamed of. These include:
1. Don’t trust too soon
This should go with every dating circumstances, but especially for someone you met online and when you don’t have any mutual friends or the same circle of friends to rely on for extra information. It is always wise to take what they say with extra caution and keep your wits about you. It can be a lot harder to gauge just what a person is really like when you only know them online. Do not easily believe everything people say online as they can easily be pretentious to make you like them.
2. Do video calls
Never ever go further into your relationship with someone online unless you have seen him through a webcam and vice versa. If they make excuses as to why they don’t want to use a webcam then be wary. Because anyone who doesn’t have anything to hide would not mind showing their face at all. It can be way too easy for someone to ‘catfish’ or trick you into thinking they are someone else when you have never seen that person through a webcam. This is an essential step before going further into the acquaintance.
3. Make efforts to see the person offline
It is one thing to fall in love with someone you’ve never met before but it is another to fall in love and not invest in some form of physical contact. A relationship can surely survive and work without two people having to always be around each other. However, having zero physical contact throughout your relationship is not a healthy one either. If you find that it is constantly difficult for your partner to make the effort to come see you in person then do think twice. At the end of the day, if someone truly wants to see you and be with you, they will make the effort.
4.Trust your instinct
Whenever you mind is not at peace and senses something fishy, believe it. So if it tells you the person online isn’t right or if you find it difficult to trust the person you’re in contact with then please, go with your instincts. Pay attention to your feelings at all times and also notice if some things simply just don’t add up. Do not ignore the read flags.
5.Pay attention to where you both go
If on a regular basis you only meet him in places where there are not a lot of people or is usually quite private, this may be a big red flag. It is one thing to want privacy and to be alone with each other but it is another thing to never want to go anywhere public where others can see you both. And if he refuses to meet anywhere in public or avoids certain areas, bring this up in a conversation. He might be trying to hide you from some people.
6.Make sure you both want the same things from the relationship
From the onset define your relationship. You both should know what you want to get from the relationships. You should have common goals or it is very easy to lose track of the future. This goes for every type of relationships but it is an even bigger challenge when you’re dating someone you meet online. It helps to talk about what you both want from each other and from being together. Do you both eventually want marriage or at least a relationship headed that way? Because if you both want different things, your relationship will eventually feel quite ‘unreal’ or as if it’s not going anywhere.