Being 'On' Online

The Profile.

I guess if you're hot enough you can list 'Dharma and Greg' as your favourite show and still get dates. But, just in case that's not a foolproof plan, heed my advice.

Now is the time to give 'em the old razzle dazzle. The endgame is to have someone so enamored that they contact you; thus giving you the upper hand.

Keep it short and sweet. If I've learned anything from blogging, the average reader will give you approximately 30 seconds of their time. Leave out extraneous details that reveal themselves in other areas of the profile i.e. gender, age, etc. Also, I can tell the colour of your hair or whether you are a self-proclaimed butch or femme from your pic, so leave that out too.

This is your opportunity to make the best first impression you can. You can sit and take as long as you'd like to craft the perfect paragraph. Talk about interesting things. This sounds simple enough, but I have read a fair share of profiles that have left me feeling indifferent.

You should avoid describing yourself as funny or having a sense of humour. If this statement is in fact true, those qualities should be apparent in your witty and charming profile. No funny person describes themselves as funny, that would be redundant.

Some sites prompt you to describe your ideal first date. This is another opportunity to be creative (remember the old razzle dazzle). A less than desirable answer would be something like "whatever we both decide to do." Well, ya. You're probably not going to do something neither of you are interested in.

That whole 'just be you' thing works in the movies but it obviously doesn't work in real life, or you wouldn't be online dating (I'm in the same boat as you, so I know what I'm talking about.) No one is going to meet the amazing 'just you,' if you don't first catch their eye.

Above all things please double check your spelling and grammar. There is nothing that us academic types hate more than reading junk. If you can't take a couple of extra minutes to proofread your profile or run it through a spell/grammar check this is probably not going to work. (Send me your profiles at makemeamatch@live.ca and I'll give 'em a once over.)

I realize this is longer than 30 seconds but I have so much wisdom to give.