We should be using technology the best way we can to help us find that special someone. Online dating allows you to easily get to know people and share your story and hopefully meet someone and have things develop into a long-term relationship. Remember a picture is worth a thousand words, so what do you want your pictures to say.

Online dating can be a blessing for introverts that have never been very good at approaching people, especially someone you find attractive. The Internet gives everyone a chance to share their feelings with another person and get to know them at their own pace. And, when you feel comfortable, you meet them in person. Maybe you move things to the phone first, but meeting becomes easier after chatting online a bit, as it no longer feels you are meeting a stranger. This is another reason you need a good picture, so you can easily recognize them when you arrive.

No matter what online dating site you choose, you want to present your best self. You are going to have the chance to meet all kinds of people. Not all of them will be there for the same reasons you are, but you should be able to relatively easily find people that are seeking the same things you are. Pay attention to what you think of the profiles you view and make sure you arenâ€t doing any of the things that put you off in your own profile.

Donâ€t be scared of online dating. Yes, some people may not be honest in their profiles and uses fake pictures of themselves. But, they arenâ€t really all that different to the problems of traditional dating. People can be dishonest when you meet them in person. Online dating may be even more secure than traditional. You can keep your personal information, like where you work or live, etc., to yourself until you feel comfortable sharing them, which can be long after youâ€ve met the person a few times. Be smart and use the benefits of online dating to your advantage and get yourself out there.

It can be a weird thing to put your desires and expectations into meeting someone online. Yet, there are many benefits to this pursuit.

Anonymity is the first and foremost benefit that online dating provides you. You can hide your personal information etc. This provides you a freedom to attempt to get to know many different people while still feeling safe and secure. You can choose to be anonymous for as long as you want until you build some level of trust. If something feels off, you can just block them.

This type of security also allows you to set the when and where you finally meet someone in person. This takes much of the fear of meeting someone new. Just logging onto the right dating site can provide you access to lots of great people you would probably have never met otherwise.

A Few Thoughts Regarding Your Online Dating Adventure:

• Donâ€t be halfhearted and completely risk averse. Not everything is going to go well, so it is appropriate to prepare yourself for some let downs. Just be sure what you want and do thorough research before actual dating.
• Donâ€t be afraid to spoil yourself a little and treat yourself to some new clothes, so you feel relaxed and confident.
• Decide in advance your reasons for dating. Be sure what you want from a potential partner and donâ€t veer from your online dating goal.
• Boost your confidence before going on any dates. Attend some social gatherings or parties and have some fun with your friends. This will surely enhance your abilities in social situations.
• Pick the meeting place well ahead of time. Be sure the place is public enough, but not a night club or the like. Obviously you donâ€t want to need to scream to converse with your date. Choose a place like a coffee shop, which proves to be ideal for talking.
• Most importantly, enjoy yourself while online dating. If you arenâ€t enjoying yourself, they wonâ€t be either.

What about if the person you have met online shops at Wal-Mart? Thatâ€s right, Wal-Mart.

Well, I got an email from eHarmony telling me that I had a new match that was requesting communication. So I logged on and read her profile page and saw her picture and started down the guided communication path with her. After a couple of weeks we got to the Open Communication stage.

Seeing that she had initiated the contact that left it my turn to send the first email. So I went back to her profile to reread it before I asked her any questions. When I got there she had added some new information to her profile page that hadnâ€t been there previously.

Two of the things she said were that if you shop at Wal-Mart or love our President then just close off communication now. Two of her dating deal breakers were people who loved George Bush or shopped at Wal-Mart. I actually laughed out loud. I wouldnâ€t say I love George Bush but I felt that any leanings towards him, or the conservative side of the political spectrum, would be too much for her. Also I have shopped at Wal-Mart so I am sure that would put me in the shallow end of this womanâ€s dating pool. I wasnâ€t sure what to write now, so I put it off a bit.

I was trying to think of what to say, as I didnâ€t want to close things off with no explanation. I donâ€t like when that happens to me but all that came to mind was an email that went something like this:

Hi ****,

I just wanted to let you know that I am going to close out communication with you do to your dating deal breakers that I just read. It seems they are new to your profile since we first started communicating. As I sit here typing this message in my I Heart George Bush t-shirt I recently purchased at Wal-Mart, a single tear runs down my face as I thought we might have been good together.

Jason

I never got a chance to send that email because a few days later when I logged back in she had already closed off communication with me. No big loss really as who would want to date someone who felt so strongly about where a potential date shopped. I can think of a lot of possible deal breakers people could have but where they shop or their political leanings donâ€t really make the list for me.

Take for instance Mary Matalin and James Carville. They are pretty far apart politically but fell in love and have been married for almost 13 years now. They have two daughters and seem happy. So would political differences be a deal breaker for you? How about where someone shops?

What are your dating deal breakers? What would keep you from pursuing a relationship with someone? Let us know in the comments.

Back then the only thing that was related to me on the first page of results was an article that points to my golf site. Today when I typed jason griffin into Google and hit the search button I found the results have changed a bit. The golf article has been pushed to the bottom of the results on page two.

But, now my previous post, Jason Griffin Googles Himself, is the second result of about 8,340,000 possible. That is more what I was looking for as I wanted to crack the top ten with something that would provide a potential date some info about me.

So, how have things changed? Here is what I found on the first page of results when searching Google for jason griffin today:

• Jason Griffin the TaeKwonDo expert has moved to the top but still isnâ€t me.
• Jason Griffin Googles Himself is number two and IS ME.
• Results three and four point to Craig Hamrick and his photos of a Jason Griffin that once again are still not me. These used to be the number one result.
• The Jason Griffin working in radio in California is still not I and has moved down the list a couple of notches.
• Jason Griffin, the host of The Eagle 93.9 FM show, Griffin & Company, in Columbia, MO still isnâ€t me.
• The results of a poker tournament player named Jason Griffin are still not mine.
• Dr. Jason J. Griffin, Director. Assistant Professor, Ornamentals and Woody Plants Research Scientist at Kansas State University. He still isnâ€t me, either. He actually used to be the second result for this search but is now number eight.
• Another new result on the first page is number nine, Personal Training with Jason. This isnâ€t me.
• The last one on the list is actually quite disturbing. It is a photo from the Long Island section of the Newsday website of a Jason Griffin who was charged with Aggravated Cruelty to Animals. This is definitely NOT ME.

As for the second page of results you will find the aforementioned golf article, a link to my site TVaholic and the printable version of Jason Griffin Googles Himself. As of today I have seven links in the top 30 when a search for jason griffin is done at Google. That is not to bad. I wonder if this page will rank for jason griffin someday at Google too. Hopefully it will bump result number 10 of the first page.

On the last post I heard from a Jason Griffin in Macon, GA, one in New Zealand and another in Texas who left word in the comments. I guess I am not the only Jason Griffin Googling himself. Have you searched for yourself in Google? Looked up a potential date? What did you find?

This was my first blog. It started off pretty well. I think I posted like 40 days in a row or something. I came up with a few ideas like writing about all niche-dating sites that were popping up all over and adding a little commentary to the weekly news in the world of online dating. Since I have started two others: TVaholic and The Brown Chronicles.

Some eWooing Site Stats

Total Posts: 87 including this one.
Total Comments: 22
Three Most Viewed Posts:

1. Jason Griffin Googles Himself
2. Niche Dating Site of the Week: FarmersOnly.com
3. Guided Communication on the eHarmony Dating Service

My Three Favorite Posts:

1. Jason Griffin Googles Himself
2. You Never Know When Inspiration Will Strike
3. Dating Chemistry and Harmony Online

Goals for the Coming Year at eWooing

• Post More Frequently – Maybe not everyday like when I started but at least a couple times a week. I have a lot of ideas; I just donâ€t always sit down and write about them right away. Then after a few days it seems like old news.
• Comment More on Others Sites – I canâ€t really complain much that I have so few comments when I donâ€t always take the time to ad my two cents to the conversation at other websites I read.

Are there any topics in the world of online dating that you would like more information about? Let me know in the comments and maybe I will add it the eWooing to do list. Hereâ€s to another year, hopefully big and better than the one before.

PROS BOOST ONLINE DATING
This article about the rise of professional profile helpers for online daters, such as profile writing and picture taking. A few tips can be gleaned from the article or you can just scroll to the bottom for a recap of them. Like what types of words: no games, no cheaters etc. can be red flags to readers of your profile who will think that you have been hurt and have yet to get over it. Sites mentioned in the article are:

• Profile Helper – Your Personal Ad Advisor
• Look Better Online – Great Photos for Online Dating
• Online Personals Watch – Online Personals News and Commentary

Twice Bitten, Twice Why?
This is a funny little story. This seems to take place a lot. I have had it happen to me. It is even weirder when they contact you first as in this case and when you reply they are never heard of again. This is strange behavior indeed. Have you had this happen to you?

Lessons of online dating scene
An amusing read with a few tips thrown in leaving with a little hope in the end.

When tall and handsome turns out short and pudgy
In my view online dating is a lot like offline dating, if people are dishonest in general they are going to continue to be dishonest online. What do you think of all the talk of government regulation of online dating? Should full-fledged background checks be standard? Should there be some small oversight? Should they just stay away completely? I would say closer to the later in my opinion would be good. What do you think?

unHaPPilY single
Write up on the book Why You’re Still Single. A guide co-written by a male and a female so you can get both perspectives on the answer. Other books mentioned in the article are:

• He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys
• Be Honest–You’re Not That Into Him Either: Raise Your Standards and Reach for the Love You Deserve
• I Can’t Believe I’m Buying This Book: A Commonsense Guide to Successful Internet Dating

Leave your thoughts on the above online dating articles in the comments.

I understand the marketing and promotion idea behind getting your name out in a big screen flick with great actors like John Cusack and Diane Lane. Yet everybody in the movie is lying on his or her profiles or other people have set them up for them.

I thought PerfectMatch was similar to eHarmony or Chemistry.com but that is not what it looks like. You would think it was just like every other dating site out there after watching this movie. You surf through a bunch of profiles looking for someone to strike your fancy not that you are matched via some type of personality compatibility matching system.

Speaking of compatible none of her matches were. If I were PerfectMatch I wouldnâ€t have wanted to be portrayed in this way. Diane Laneâ€s character Sarah is signed up by her sister, so, hopefully the sister knows something about her. Otherwise where is the compatibility? Then when Sarah meets these people they are made up of every dating cliché out there. Like the guy who wants to date much younger or the weird guy who cries and canâ€t understand why he never gets any second dates. These are the matches she got from PerfectMatch. The ones she didnâ€t go out with were even worse.

Again I ask why would you want to associate yourself with this crappy portrayal of online dating. The only good thing about the movie was John Cusackâ€s character Jake and his assertion that two people should just put a lot of the small talk by the wayside and be open and honest with their dates. Giving each person a chance to learn about and get to know the real person. If they donâ€t like it then “you shake hands after dinner and never see each other again.”

Anyways that is my take on this. Have you seen Must Love Dogs? What did you think how online dating was portrayed? If you were PerfectMatch or any other online dating site would you have wanted to be attached to this? Leave your thoughts in the comments.