Online Dating: Using Media Before You Meet

Using media to improve your online dating experience can be a wonderful experience – especially if you have not yet met your partner or live far away from each other. There are several different ways you can pack more dimensions into online dating and, by doing so, allow you to truly get to know the person with whom you've been chatting.

Why is using media important for online dating? Online dating, in its primitive stages, only involves emails or instant messages in the form of text. Now, text can be absolutely, heart-achingly beautiful, it can reveal thoughts, desires, dreams, and whimsy, and it should be in no way abandoned! Nevertheless, adding other sources of media to the experience can help you engage your partner and decide whether or not it is a good match before you even meet. Here are some examples of how different media can be applied to a budding relationship beyond simple emails and instant messaging:

Phone calls / audio chats. Since many computers, especially laptops, are now built with microphones and many instant messenger services now allow the service, phone chatting is now easier than ever. You can learn a lot from a person's voice and the way they use it: subtle accents, word use, poignant pauses, and nervous tension are all contained in voice-chatting in a way that text cannot really encompass. The added component of voice adds an immediacy to the conversation not available through simple text. Audio chats also allow you an extra security in comparison to cell phones because they don't require you to give out your phone number, a screen name is much more easily disposed, and most services allow you to block users.

Video chatting. Although a picture can reveal the way a person looks, they also tend to be tragically bias – and not always in the same way. A beautiful person can be extremely un-photogenic just as easily as a photo can be manipulated to make a person appear much more attractive than they really are. What is beauty, then? Beauty is in movement. Video chatting allows you to see the way a person moves, gestures, and expresses emotions. It can also help relieve the stress of not knowing exactly what to expect from each other if you do decide to meet and date in person.

Online games! If you're having trouble breaking the ice, an online game can be the perfect way to lighten the conversation and get to know each other.