A Crash Course In Online Dating Etiquette
All situations have their own etiquette, and since the internet became so popular a method of keeping in touch it has built up any number of little etiquettes of its own. Online dating is no exception, and there are – as with everything – a few unwritten rules that you’ll need to remember to follow if you want to do well. We’ve detailed them here, so that you’ll no longer be left wondering whether or not you’re getting it quite right – but as with most things, they’re essentially just common sense and basic politeness. Strive to treat people how you would like to be treated and you’ll be fine.
Don’t Send Overtly Sexualised Messages
Women on dating sites receive crass, crude and incredibly sexual messages all the time – usually on a daily basis. It’s offputting, it’s threatening, and it’s not getting anyone any dates; it’s basically the online version of shouting at a woman in the street, another thing most find scary and annoying. Keep your messages clean and friendly.
Don’t Harass People, No Matter What
If someone doesn’t respond to a message you’ve sent them, leave it. They’ll have their reasons, and the very worst thing you could do it try to prod them about it. Plaintive cries of “are you going to talk to me?”, “why are you ignoring me?”, “have I done something wrong?” are irritating, and destroy your chances of getting a good conversation going with the person in question. Move on.
Don’t String People Along If You Aren’t Interested
Batting endless messages to and fro with someone you know you don’t want to meet up with is a waste of everyone’s time, including yours. If you aren’t interested, just leave it – you don’t even have to tell them that directly, if you don’t want to. it’s important to be polite, but if someone is harassing you there’s no need to keep it up – and there’s certainly no need to keep trying to reply to them past when you want to.
Don’t Leave Your Profile Up Forever
If you’re no longer looking, it’s a good idea to take down your profile. This means that you won’t get loads of messages, you won’t get all the notifications, and you won’t have people thinking you’re just ignoring them when in reality you’re not even logging in any more. It also keeps everything neat and tidy for the site admins, and means there aren’t so many abandoned profiles to deal with.