Blind Dating 101
Oct 12 2012.
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Blind dating is the practice of dating someone you haven’t physically met before, even though initially the term was coined for dates that were setup by mutual friends, the fast rising popularity of social media platforms have facilitated for a more modern context for the term.
Blind dating now includes meetings that are set up through online dating websites, social networks and so on. 1 in 5 modern relationships have initiated through an online meeting, a striking statistic that raises the question, how much do we really know about blind dating?
This type of dating operates on a fairly different set of rules up until the conclusion of the first date after which standard dating rules and theories of attraction apply. Though too much isn’t known about the practices of blind dating a few definite strategies will help keep the numbers on the high side.
Market Yourself
As crazy as it is, your chances of meeting “the one” online are higher than the chances of meeting him/her in real life.
Take Facebook for example, with a staggering 500 million registered users, the web site offers you the chance to meet any one of the 500,000,000 users at the click of a button, and most of us won’t physically come across a hundredth of that many people in our lifetimes let alone our dating years.
The point is your profile acts as sort of a first impression, gaining much needed social proof and ideally enticing those who come across it. A good profile typically consists of images and many social interactions, establishing you as the type of guy you like to portray being and differentiating you from the rest of the creeps lurking in cyberspace.
This one is obvious, with the amount of weirdos on the internet, it’s a necessity to be picky and careful.
From potential murderers to thieves to rapists the dangers of cyberspace are endless. Ideally your blind date should have a number of common friends with you and even more ideally s/he shouldn’t be some obese old dude who wants to abduct you.
Much like real life, being choosy will work in your benefit on the long run, after all there isn’t much you can gather from a profile so it’s advisable to be weary of the little bit you can gather.
Meeting someone for the first time is a bit of an awkward situation, meeting them on intimate circumstances is worse.
As uncomfortable as it may be in the first few minutes, it’s important to remember that confidence is a key attribute of a successful date whether it be blind or not.
One thing to keep in mind is that your partner is in the same awkward state you are, so it might help to lighten the air and approach the situation with a little humor. Of course a bad joke won’t do much good though.
Respect
This one is mainly for the guys, regardless of circumstances either party should be free to leave if they are too uncomfortable. Pestering and begging won’t help anyone and it’s really annoying. So respect your partner’s boundaries at all times and don’t be bothersome.
If s/he refuses to divulge sensitive information like addresses and phone numbers it may be due to fear of personal security and nothing to do with you. Don’t take it personally and don’t overstep the limits.
It’s all in the timing of escalation. Escalation is a core concept in dating and seduction and is loosely the timing and method of moving from one level to another. In blind dating the basic levels are the point at which you decide to leave your computers and chat windows to meet in person, the point at which you get his/her phone number and so on.
It’s important not to rush any of these while it’s also important not to slow it down too much. The fast paced web settings are easy to lose track of and you’ll be just another name in the inbox after a few weeks. So if you’re interested it’s best to move in for the prize at a moderate pace.
Well these tips are sure to keep you on the right track for a while at least, so happy dating!
By Dilshan Senaratne
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