Over-the-Top High Tech Flirting
Dating site trolls, creepy sex texters and instant messaging prowlers beware! A crew may be waiting on the sidelines to bust you at your next stroke of the keyboard or dial pad button.
It's not hard to imagine this on the horizon, so don't say we didn't warn you. With the ever-increasing popularity of Dateline NBC's series "To Catch a Predator" we envision that this next extension in the line up of undercover sting investigation programs will follow a similar format, only this time the hidden camera will be honing in on romance unabashed romance seekers or interlopers."I can deal with over-the-top flirting or dirty cyber talk with someone that I know and trust" says Stephanie a SingleEdition.com reader. "But it's a whole other ballgame when you receive an instant message from an AOL stranger seeking sex talk, or better yet the booty call at 2:00 in the morning, They have got to be joking!"
Unfortunately most of the time they are not. With more than 73% of single adults online, many of whom are searching for friendship and/or love, the indiscriminate messaging can be unsettling, and chicanery can cause long term emotional bruising. Take 34 year old Jason, who thought he had met a long term companion, until one of his friends spotted her actively casting her net on three other dating sites. And with mobile technology making anywhere, anytime dating and relating an option, there is no foreseeable end in sight.
Individuals are far less inhibited and more willing to take chances when there is no one in front of them. Plus the chances of getting caught or being taken up on an offer are so unlikely that many people are willing to push the limits. The problem, according to experts, starts when individuals longing for intimacy and emotional connectedness start lurking and leering compulsively.
So while there are no set plans, To Catch a Pervert seems ripe for a spinoff. Here's how you can keep yourself off of the watch list:
1. Set Realistic Boundaries: One online dating profile means you're putting yourself out there; two to three lets them know you are actively searching. Anything more is a red pervert alert.
2. Know Your Audience: Remember. Asianfriendfinders is for Asians, Jdate is for Jews, PrimeSingles for baby boomers and SingleParentDating for non-married single parents. If you do not match the criteria, but have a fetish for those who do, come clean in your profile.
3. Cover your tracks: If you spend more than 2 hours a day on a particular dating site, have clicked on a single person's profile more than seven times in the last hour, or been out on more than 3 dates with someone(s) within a community, be sure to deactivate the setting which lets others know when, how often and what you do when you are online.
4. Be Sensitive to Timing: Do not instant message your prospect(s) seconds after they appear on your buddy list, especially during daytime office hours.
5. Limit ALL CAPS usage: Keep your voice down, shouting at a stranger is the sign of an angry lunatic.
6. Save the Sex Texts: SMS should be avoided until there has been at least one date whether it's virtual or real.
And finally, remember, friends don't let friends ping drunk. If you have had one too many, hand over your keys and your cell phone.
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