Internet Dating; Take Heed Of These Red Flags

You’ve taken the plunge and signed up for an internet dating site. You’ve spent considerable time creating an amusing profile complete with photos. You’ve done your best to showcase yourself in a positive light.

So now that your profile is posted it’s time to start browsing. You plug your “my dream date must haves” into the dating site’s search engine and sit back while it does all the work. Within seconds you’ll have a list of profiles to look at.

As you read through the profiles looking for clues of his or her personality, there are a few things you need to keep an eye out for. These are character traits that are not particularly flattering. More importantly, they could be relationship deal breakers.

Badmouthing. Sarcasm is amusing, for a while and even more so when it’s disguised as humor in the form of a joke about the waitress or a friend. But if all your date’s comments about people are sarcastic and unflattering, it says more about your date than the people he or she is commenting on. Think this through. If your date has nothing positive to say about others what makes you think he or she will talk any differently about you?

Previous relationships. Almost all of us have relationships in our past. And we likely keep some of them to ourselves because they weren’t a highlight in our lives. Someone who has a half dozen or more creepy relationship tales to tell may be someone who hasn’t learned anything from their past mistakes. They may enjoy playing the victim, but will you enjoy being portrayed as the “bad guy”?

A BIG Chip On Their Shoulder. People who are angry all the time are likely people who haven’t learned anything from their past experiences. Even more important, they blame everyone but themselves for their lack of success in all aspects of their life. You can bet that if you become involved with someone like this you’ll get your share of the blame sooner or later.

Big Differences. Yes, opposites attract and variety is the spice of life. But if your differences are just too great, that spiciness is going to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Religion, drug use and the desire to have children are all examples of differences that, while they may not affect the short term, can be too difficult to overcome in the long run.

Getting to know someone is one the reasons you date someone. It helps you figure out whether or not that person would make a good lifetime mate or not. If you run across someone with one or more of these red flags, take care in making a decision about dating this person in the future.