*This post was written in collaboration with Manchester Dating

We are nearly a year into the Coronavirus pandemic. Things have changed in the UK quite significantly. In all honestly, it’s hard to know when things will be back to normal. The only saving grace for me personally has been the fact that I can work from home and the fact that I can still “date” online. Being a singleton in your 30s is hard. People make assumptions. As bold and brave as I am on my Youtube channel, I actually suffer from anxiety and dating makes me really nervous. Having a perfectly legitimate excuse to date more online has done me the world of good! There will be a lot of new users to online dating I think until the pandemic subsides with the introduction of the vaccine. That’s why I wanted to share my knowledge on staying safe when you date online.

Only use selected contact methods

You might find that your chosen dating app has a messaging function. Say for instance you sign up to Manchester dating, if you are quite content just to message people through the Manchester dating site then that is your prerogative. If anyone tries to force you to give out personal details you are not willing to give out, then you should be a bit careful in your communications with them. There is nothing to say you cannot have a good enough chat on the dating site. If you do want to give out some more personal details first, then you should consider which channels to use. It is best to choose the one you can block the person from if you need to.

Video call

In this day and ages with all of the technology we have, there are still a lot of people out there on the internet who are not who they say they are. One of my best friends always has her Instagram pictures taken and used by other people pretending to be her. It’s so easy to do, you wouldn’t actually believe it. So when we do start getting back to the reality of normal life, still make sure you schedule in a live video call with your potential date before you meet them in person. This is probably the only way we will be able to continue dating until the end of the pandemic anyway. 

Chat by phone as well

I’m not saying alarm bells should ring straight away if the person you are talking to will not video call. There are some legit reasons that a video call may not be able to happen. If that is the case though, try and make sure that you at least have a phone call before the big date. If you have only managed a phone call, make sure you take extra precautions on the actual date like driving yourself so that you can leave if you need to, and making sure you tell someone you trust exactly where you are and what time you will be arriving and leaving.