If you've ever watched an episode of Catfish , you know how treacherous the texting waters can be. Texting builds an almost intimate bond that can sometimes make it harder to meet face-to-face, because now your meeting is fraught and full of high stakes. That being said, you should do some pre-date texting to check for deal-breakers, and more importantly, for safety reasons. So, the question is, how long to text before having a first date is the right amount of time? Is it better to move quickly into the first date, or should you take it slow and really get to know as much as you can about the person via text before meeting face to face? To help figure out what the "right" amount of time to text is before going on a date, I reached out to online dating experts.

11 Tips for Your First Date after Meeting Online



11 Tips for Your First Date after Meeting Online
In the spirit of our first wedding anniversary, I crafted a list of nine lessons I learned from online dating. At the very end of a six month run on Match. Online dating was actually less scary than it initially sounded. I found it an ideal way to meet people since I did not work with eligible singles or enjoy going to bars. I visited many coffee shops, over-analyzed a lot of emails, and learned more about myself than I wanted to know. Here are some things I learned the hard way.


7 Things You Have to Do Before Meeting Someone You Met Online
In the early days of the internet, it was common advice to never meet someone in person that you'd only met online. These days, it's much more common—but you should still take a few precautions. More often than not, if you're meeting someone you've only ever talked to online for the first time, it falls into one of two categories. Either it's a social call like a date or a party , or a casual business deal such as selling a laptop on Craigslist.



Everyone should know the drill- do a simple Google search before meeting your date. If possible, try to find pictures and see what additional information comes up about the person beyond Facebook and Instagram. To take your safety a step further, get a free Google Voice phone number. Keep your personal number secure and only for people you feel comfortable with. Today, there are so many ways to video chat with the ability to use FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Skype and even Facebook for video calls.