7 Cracking Dating Survival Tips for 2014
With the plethora of free dating sites available online, not to mention all those publicly viewable Facebook profiles accessible to hungry eyes, you’re at significant risk of choice over-dose. A shared interest dating site will help you narrow the field down to a selection of singles with whom you will have something in common.
When planning where to go, be realistic about how long the first date should last. Dating in 2014 is not about long, romantic afternoons strolling by the riverside, followed by hours relaxing over a picnic. We live in a fast-paced society, where results are expected to be rapid, and judgements are made in an instant. Plan an activity that can be comfortably completed inside an hour. This leaves you the option to continue the date over coffee or a meal if you wish, or to wrap it up and go home.
The age of chivalry is not dead, but in 2014 it is no longer standard for the man to pay for the date. Men don’t want to be financially crippled while playing the dating game, and women don’t need to be patronised by the assumption that they need looking after. Instead, it’s fairer to agree in advance how the dating finances will work, by making a relaxed, informal arrangement, like ‘you buy the tickets, I’ll buy the drinks’.
If you are forever scrolling through your Facebook feed, or looking up the sports scores, you will not be making a very good first impression. If you need your phone for emergency calls, switch it to silent and slip it into a pocket where you will feel it vibrate. Your date is with you in person and deserves your full attention.
As tempting as it may be to announce your new found love to the world, don’t! Updating your relationship status too soon is frighteningly clingy, but leaving it too late may cause offence. The only diplomatic approach is to hide your relationship status and never, ever update it. Ever. Also beware of over enthusiastic gushing status updates about ‘lunching with my new man’, or ‘hooking up with my new gorgeous babe’. As your new man / babe may be offended / creeped out by this.
You might have enough hilarious dating stories to base an entire TV series on, but under no circumstances should you share these with your date. Regaling your date with tales of modern dating woes may cause one, or more of the following reactions:
None of these reactions lead to you getting a second date.
Possibly the hardest thing to deal with while dating in 2014 is having the world’s happiness shoved right under your nose. Romantic films, and gushing Facebook statuses give the impression of a world filled with happily ever afters. None of these stories are 100% true and accurate. Films are escapism and should not be treated as a guide map for your life. As for social media updates, these offer the public face of a private relationship, with no mention of the effort that goes into maintaining that relationship, and should be completely disregarded.