Dare2Date’s recent survey of 180 Perth singles found that 52% of singles look up a potential date on Facebook, and in the 25-34 year old age group that percentage goes up to 66%!
A recent Match.com survey found 49% of singles would cancel a date if they didn’t like what they found on the person’s Facebook page. What you post on Facebook can make a difference to what people think about you. It really can affect your life. You need to keep in mind potential dates and employers will look up your Facebook page to find out what you are like.
What does your Facebook page say about you? What would you find if you google yourself? Do all your photos make you look like a binge drinking alcoholic? When people pre-stalk you they can sometimes find things that they don’t like. Things like drunken overseas photos or seeing you with people way hotter, will influence what they think of you. If you often write inappropriate comments or support particularly strong political views you may be giving an impression that might not necessarily reflect your personality. Or they could even find a Spotify Playlist and decide they could never date someone who listened to ‘that’!
Of course, you don’t want to create a completely false impression of yourself, and I don’t believe everyone should only put up pictures of picnics in the park, but my advice would be to be very careful about what you post on a public forum. The Internet is, afterall, the world wide web! I have listed a few common things you could choose to avoid posting on your Facebook page.
1. Telling the world you are in a relationship. Beware of declaring yourself in a relationship too early on. My advice would be to wait until it is a committed and serious relationship. If you are dating and you continually show yourself in and out of a relationship with multiple people and for short periods of time, it can suggest a number of things like you have problems settling down, you are crazy, or you like attention.
2. Complaining about friends, work or a partner. No-one likes someone who is constantly complaining and this will paint a poor picture.
3. Using Facebook as a ‘misery diary’. Facebook is not the place to air your personal problems. If you need to discuss your problems do this with your friends face to face or through private messages, please don’t do it over the Internet. We all need to talk from time to time but chose the time and the place. Or alternatively get an actual diary. Remember what you say on Facebook can affect your life in the future.
4. Don’t use Facebook to put down an ex or argue with an ex. Anyone who is thinking of starting a relationship with you will see how you behave when the relationship is over.
4. Avoid sexy photographs of yourself. This will make people think you are an attention seeker.
5. Avoid lots of pictures of wild nights out. This can create the picture that you are a party person, which is fun but not what most people want in a long term relationship.
I am sure there are many more, as always happy dating.
Debbie xxx
