1. Find a dating site.
There are many out there, with more new ones starting up often. Find a site that is reputable. Stay away from the sleazy sites. It would be good to find a site that specializes in your interests such as gay dating, black dating, and even specialized religious sites.
2. Remember that most of the sites will offer you a free trial period.
If they ask for your credit card, be assured they will charge you after that trial period ‘unless’ you make sure you cancel prior to that date
3. Register with honest information about yourself.
Do not lie about your weight and interests, or show a photo of you when you were much younger. After all, the idea of Internet dating is to actually meet in person eventually.
4. Remember never to give out personal information.
No telephone number, no address, no last name. If things go well, you can do this later.
5. Make sure that when you connect with someone to keep the conversation on email for awhile.
Create a new email address for yourself to use only for dating sites. Do not give out your personal Internet address.
6. Try to find out as much as possible about the other person, via email, so you can get a sense of what he is like.
With practice, you can tell a lot about the other person from how he responds to questions, and what he says on email.
7. Do not give out your phone number; instead, ask for his.
Call him, but make sure you use the phone blocker if you use your home phone. If you have a cell phone, use that! If he refuses to give you his phone number, be wary. He may be married or have ulterior motives, but he may be just as wary as you are. Instead of talking on the phone, suggest a meeting in a neutral place.
8. Be wary if he asks if you have a web cam.
Most of the time, men with web cams want to show themselves naked. This is a great big “Red Flag”.
9. When you talk to him on the telephone, and, after a bit of chit chat, he suddenly starts talking about sexual things, or asks you what you are wearing, hang up.
This is a “Red Flag”.
10. Some people don’t like to chit-chat over email for long periods of time or give out their phone numbers.
Don’t be put off if he asks to meet you. Ask him where he would like to meet. Be wary if he suggests meeting at his place or yours. This is another Red Flag; stop communicating with him immediately. Always meet in a public, neutral place, preferably during the day.
