What to Expect From Your Profile
- Tuesday, February 28 2012 @ 09:09 am
- Contributed by: Jet
- Views: 1,353
Creating your first online dating profile can be exciting, to say the least. You’re taking charge of your dating destiny and being pro-active! You’re thinking outside the box when the usual methods have been sub-optimal! You’re playing to your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses! It’s easy to get swept away on a tidal wave of expectation. At some point, however, it might be good to ask yourself: what, exactly, are you expecting to accomplish with your profile?
You see, if you don’t consciously ask yourself these questions, it’s all too easy for your expectations to grow unchecked. For example, I’ve known several people who, though they didn’t really think about it, expected that their profile would make someone fall in love with them. That’s right; they thought that if only their profile were good enough, it would be love at first read. Talking about these expectations aloud is a good way to get a little perspective; very few, if any, people would ever fall in love based on a few paragraphs of text.
So what should you expect from an online profile? Well, to put it bluntly, you’re looking to get your foot in the door. For many people, the most difficult part of finding someone special falls into two categories. The first is finding someone in the first place who shares your interests. The second is making it past that “first impression” stage - maybe they’re too shy to approach anyone, for instance. For some people, online dating neatly takes care of both those problems: customs searches raise the chances of finding someone with the same hobbies, and a well-edited profile is a guaranteed first impression.
In essence, your profile allows you to start a conversation with someone you might not ordinarily have met or noticed. It’s an alternate way of beginning to get to know someone, so there’s already something to talk about when you finally meet in person. Is it as grand as falling in love with one click of a mouse? Perhaps not - but the possibilities are pretty exciting regardless.
You see, if you don’t consciously ask yourself these questions, it’s all too easy for your expectations to grow unchecked. For example, I’ve known several people who, though they didn’t really think about it, expected that their profile would make someone fall in love with them. That’s right; they thought that if only their profile were good enough, it would be love at first read. Talking about these expectations aloud is a good way to get a little perspective; very few, if any, people would ever fall in love based on a few paragraphs of text.
So what should you expect from an online profile? Well, to put it bluntly, you’re looking to get your foot in the door. For many people, the most difficult part of finding someone special falls into two categories. The first is finding someone in the first place who shares your interests. The second is making it past that “first impression” stage - maybe they’re too shy to approach anyone, for instance. For some people, online dating neatly takes care of both those problems: customs searches raise the chances of finding someone with the same hobbies, and a well-edited profile is a guaranteed first impression.
In essence, your profile allows you to start a conversation with someone you might not ordinarily have met or noticed. It’s an alternate way of beginning to get to know someone, so there’s already something to talk about when you finally meet in person. Is it as grand as falling in love with one click of a mouse? Perhaps not - but the possibilities are pretty exciting regardless.
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