When posting pictures of yourself online you should use some judgment. It may be superficial but your picture is the first impression that someone gets about you (even before reading your profile they will see your picture). YES, a picture is worth 1,000 words. I am not sure if there are statistics yet for how long you have to catch a potential date’s attention. However, I do know that in a resume situation you only have 10 seconds to gain an employer’s attention.

Please Refrain Yourself

You should avoid putting up pictures of your chest/cleavage, etc (yes even MEN).  It sends the wrong message (if you are looking for a one night stand or just a booty call, then by all means put your chest up). However, if you really want to find a life-partner, long term relationship, etc putting a pic up of your cleavage or chest will only get attention from the wrong people. Come on girls, do you really want those emails that say “NICE RACK”. I have even heard of women that put up pics of themselves in a wet t-shirt and then get upset at guys for noticing and commenting. And on the other hand, if I see a picture of a guy in the hot tub it sends me the message that he is only interested in sex, and at that point he has already lost me and I don’t even read his profile.

Don’t Crop Out People

For those of you who think that you can crop out your ex from your picture and nobody will notice….who are you fooling? Everyone notices and it is just tacky. What else is tacky is putting up pics that your current significant other (so) or x-so took of you. Do you really want to see pictures plastered all over dating sites of your x-so that you took?

Personal experience: My so (while I was STILL with him) created a profile on a dating site (saying he was single, unbeknownst to me) with pictures up of him THAT I TOOK!! That has to be the most rude and heartless thing anyone has ever done to me.

Also, what is up with everyone taking pictures of themselves in the bathroom mirror? I guess it is just one of those things everyone thinks they should do, I really don’t want to see a pic of a commode in the background, and nobody else does either!!

Pictures You Should Use

Ok, now that I have told you what not to use, you are probably wondering what you should use. I like to see pictures that show someone’s personality. Funny and goofy pictures are good, pictures that show you having a good time, maybe doing something you like to do, these types of pictures give your audience a better way of getting to know you. I suggest that you use 3 to 5 pictures. The reason being is because each picture shows a different side of you (personality wise), plus if you have a picture that someone doesn’t see flattering usually another one will give them a different viewpoint.

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• Online Dating Sites — Advantages and Traps (online-dating.suite101.com)

The benefits of watching shows from your computer are numerous.

Some of the benefits include the following:

• You don’t have to work around TV availability. For example, if you have roommates like I do, then you need not worry about finding time to watch the shows that are important to you, they can still watch the TV and you can use the computer.
• You can watch the entire episodes whenever is convenient for you with no need to download.
• You can pause, rewind, fast-forward, just as if you were watching it on a TiVo, DVR or some other recording device.
• If you have a laptop you can watch your favorite shows anyplace that has internet access (any room in your house, family/friends houses, coffee shops, hotels, even some camping sites have internet access).
• Most channels have your favorite full episode shows available for you to watch online.
• Another advantage to having a laptop if it has an HDMI or S-Video then you can connect your laptop directly up to your TV.

Using your TV as an extended Monitor

• Did you know that most newer laptops come with an HDMI port and if your TV also has an HDMI port then you will be able to use our TV as an extended monitor. Yes, HDMI cables can be a little pricy, but it is a one time cost verses the price of other recording devices.
• If you have an older laptop/TV do not fear because most older laptops and TV’s have an S-Video cable that you can use as well. Granted, the S-Video only carries the picture and not the sound. So, if watching movies when grabbing the popcorn be sure to grab yours external speakers as well.

See below for a sample list of websites where you can even watch movies for free. Also, if you buy the proper membership you can view movies from Netflix.com instantly (although availability to which movies you can do this with are limited it is still worth checking out).

Other reasons you may want to hook your laptop up to your TV

• Watching all of those digital photos that are on your laptop. Why try to crowd around a small laptop with family and friends when you can show your slideshow on the big screen TV.
• Surfing the internet with family/friends.
• Playing video games.
• Because it is fun and you can.

List of Sites Where You Can Watch TV for Free:

www.abc.com

www.cbs.com

www.nbc.com

www.fox.com

www.hulu.com

www.fancast.com

http://television.aol.com/

www.freemoviescinema.com

For more info regarding how to hook-up your computer to your TV visit here.

So, you have been online dating now for some time (or maybe you just started checking it out) when you find someone that you really like and want to get to know. You find that you are spending a lot of time with that person and you are really getting to know them. You begin to call each other boyfriend and girlfriend and you are wondering what you should do with your online profiles?

Change Your Relationship Status

I was having a conversation regarding that with my roommate the other day. I feel that one should return to the online site and change there status to “in a relationship”, “seeing someone” and/or “just looking for friends”. I don’t think you would need to delete the profiles and still corresponding with people as friends need not be an issue. However, if you really want to give someone a chance to really get to know them you should probably be only seeing them. Of course, that is a discussion between you and your significant other.

Make Time to Get to Know Them

I guess the internet makes it way to easy to find other people to date. Don’t be a serial dater going from one person to the next.  Take time to get to know the person you are with, you may be missing out if you are constantly going from one date to another. Relationships take a lot of work and commitment, and they don’t happen over night. In this age where everything is so quick paced and meeting new people is probably easier now then ever before, make sure to take time to get to know the person you are with.

Here are a list of articles about online dating that I read that you maybe interested in:

• Social Networking: the Advantages and Disadvantages to Using Social Networking Sites to Find Dates (articlesbase.com)
• Social Networking: Social Networking Websites – is it Possible to Find Love Online? (articlesbase.com)