The fad of online
dating has gone on long enough for it to be classified as a trend; what’s more
is that internet dating has given a clear indication that it’s here to stay as
part of contemporary culture, and those of us who shirked away from it in the past
will soon be embracing it in the near future. However, while the growth of the
medium in this regard has been truly meteoric, it has also brought its share of
pitfalls for users; primary among them being that there is so much traffic,
that the average user’s profile can get easily lost in the vast data-pool of
profiles that online dating sites display. It thus becomes imperative for us to
adapt to the medium and go along with the tide, failing which we risk being
left behind.

The question we shall
try to answer is fundamental- How do we get attention (and that too from the
people whose attention we want) on online dating sites? Considering that the
question itself is plagued with ambiguity, the answers to it too are similarly
ill-defined. However, an overview of the general trends observed can get you
that much closer to dating the guy or girl you’re so desperately searching for,
or even a sugar daddy. The key is to remember that there are no hard and fast
rules in the dating game, and slight modifications to your profile can be done;
in fact, they should be done to maintain a certain level of interest in your
profile and keep it different from the millions of other profiles. A look then,
at the general ways in which you can get the right attention.

The most common mistake
people do on profiles is with regard to their display pictures. A display
picture is ‘your’ display picture; and shouldn’t have friends or relatives that
might cause a viewer to be confused about your identity. Besides, your picture
should be a neat face and body picture, not just a mug-shot. A viewer is going
to garner a large amount of data from the image of you he sees, and you
wouldn’t want to mislead him, or supply him with information that is
inadequate, since this will just cause him to switch interest to a different
profile. Remember that the internet is a brutally fast medium, and the human
mind is similarly fickle. Post a picture where your face (with all its
beautiful contours and contrasts) is clearly visible, and enough of your body
is visible for a viewer to gauge your body shape.

When the paradigm
shifts to describing yourself on the profile, the impetus too similarly shifts.
You want to let a person know what you do, but you don’t want to overindulge in
trivialities that are only going to bore the other person. Keep the data short
and sweet. In fact, it comes with the added advantage of being an ice-breaker,
since it gives the other person the chance to start a conversation if there are
information gaps that need to be filled. The same stands true for all other
information fields, be short, be curt, but be honest; it will be much
appreciated.

And guess what! That’s
all there is to online dating. It’s a free for all out there, and comes with
about half a million different permutations and combinations for you to
experiment with. Keep the few basic guidelines in mind and get started, you’re
sure to find your way like the millions before you.