Online dating has become a very normal thing. It’s no longer just for middle-aged divorcees. Many people have found the person that they want to spend the rest of their lives with on an online dating site. However, if you are new to online dating, it can come off as a very scary experience. Since I’ve been active on online dating sites for a few years, I am going to share the basic rules you need to have a fun and safe experience when meeting someone from online for the first time.

Talk to the person you are interested in meeting before you set up a date. Just because they look cute doesn’t mean you’ll get along with them. Read their full profile, have multiple conversations with them, and make sure you have similar interests. If you are a preschool teacher, do you really want to go on a date with someone who despises kids?

It’s important to meet in a public area. If they want to meet you at an isolated street corner in the middle of the night, clearly something shady is going on. It’s also important to pick a place you’ll enjoy! If you aren’t really into going to the movies on a first date because you can’t get to know each other when you’re sitting silently in the theater, try meeting at a restaurant or cafe. Hopefully you both will have enough similar interests for you to agree on the same location.

Talking to someone online can be very different from talking to them in person. Even if you’ve been talking to this special someone for months, they may not act or look like you thought they would. This doesn’t necessarily mean things won’t go as well as expected. There were even a few times I went on a date where the guy turned out to be better looking in person than in his pictures. Either way, if it doesn’t work out like you wanted it to, there are plenty of other fish in the sea and you can find them on plentyoffish.com…or okcupid…or loveawake… or eharmony. You catch my drift.