A Social Experiment, Pt 1

This week I embarked on a social experiement of sorts. I mean, I majored in psychology and minored in sociology in college, so obviously human nature fascinates me. So. I joined okcupid.com. Yup. I've heard good things about the site, and a couple of my friends have gotten dates off it, so I though, hey, what the heck? I mean, my sister and brother-in-law met through the internet. (Okay okay, before I get in BIG trouble, I should clarify...they did not meet ON the internet. Their friends did. And when their friends met, they went along. And ka-boom. They lived happily ever after. The end.) While I know good things can happen on internet dating, I'm pretty sure it's not for me. I joined a "penpal" site in college and got wedding proposals from the Middle East. I did a free sign up at eHarmony once, and it was more stress than it was worth. Plus, it's a great way to get rejected 10 times a day. And last year (?) sometime I tried plentyoffish.com. I don't want to talk about it... Long story short, my time on these sites < 2 weeks typically.

It has already been a fairly entertaining experiment. Just perusing the site is very educational. Therefore I decided to discuss it in at least two installments, maybe more, depending on how long I last. In this first chapter, we'll cover simple do's and don't's of creating a profile. From my perspective. Because I know what's best. ;)

DO:
- Write about yourself in the boxes. It's not "funny" or "cute" to say things like, "If you really want to know, you'll ask me."

- Use spellcheck. Please. And as much correct punctuation as you can. Typos happen, but it's not really helpful if a profile isn't coherent.

- Post decent pictures of yourself. Ones where you can see your face. Maybe smile. Maybe even post ones where you've washed your hair recently.

- Come up with something more clever in a message than, "You're cute." Actually read the profile of the person you're messaging and comment on something they've said.

DON'T
- Use "text speak" to creat your profile. It gets really annoying to try to read.

- Post pictures of yourself cuddling with members of the opposite sex. Somehow it sends the wrong message on a dating site.

- Post pictures of yourself taking pictures of yourself in the bathroom mirror with your shirt off. Just...don't. (This is mostly aimed at guys, but it would probably be a bad idea for girls too ;))

- Talk about how stupid or blind the opposite sex is in your first messages. Bitterness is not sexy.

- Say in the first message that you are desperate to meet someone and you think it's the person you're messaging. Again. Not really attractive.

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I could go on, I'm sure. But those are the basics. It shouldn't be rocket science, but you'd be surprised! That's it for now. Stay tuned in the next few days to hear about some of the charmers I've already met on the site. You won't want to miss it!