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When you have been chatting and communicating with a new potential partner online and decide to meet in person, safety may not be the first thing on your mind. We are not here to scare you, but we would like to make sure you are taking the proper precautions when meeting someone for the first time in person. When using KnownSingles and meeting someone that is known to a matchmaker both you and your potential new partner are linked to, please make sure to verify information the potential partner has told you about themselves with the matchmaker you share. When you share a MatchMaker, both you and your date are KnownSingles to the MatchMaker and they should be able to verify information about both of you.
This will provide an additional layer of trust if everything they have told you is verified by the MatchMaker you both share. It is a good practice to take precautions when meeting in person for the first few dates. If you met your potential partner in our app without the use of a MatchMaker, then it is especially important to take extra precautions when meeting in person as you have no way to verify information they have told you about themselves.
Here are some tips for meeting offline and in person for the first few dates:
Use Google and search for information about the person you are about to meet in person. If you find anything that makes you uncomfortable or you have a bad feeling about this person based on search results, cancel the date. You should also stop communicating with this person in the app.
You are meeting someone you really don’t know too well, so it’s better to provide your own transportation.
Take an Uber, Lyft, or whatever car service is available in your area or drive your own car. This will provide a double layer of extra security since you will be able to leave quickly if things get strange or are not working out too well and most importantly you will not have shared your home address with this person.
Whenever you plan to meet a new date for the first time (or even the next few times), let your family members, friends and roommates know about it. If you met the person via a shared MatchMaker on the app, let the MatchMaker know about your date as well. It is important that you provide as much information as possible such as your date’s name and phone number, exactly where you are going to meet, and when you expect to be home. If the two of you decide to change plans during the date regarding where you will be located, let your people know right away.
This may sound like we are a bit paranoid, but think about it, if no one knows your plans, then no one would have any reason to be concerned about you if something were to go wrong.
It may sound a like a good idea to just hang out at home and watch a movie on a first date but it’s not advisable to invite someone you have not met before to your home or for you to go over to their home. Instead, it’s better to pick a public place that you are familiar with, like a restaurant or café at a time when there will be many other people there.
This will minimize the risk of being put in an unsafe situation and in addition, other people may also remember you being there in the event something does happen to you.
That’s right, you must have heard of certain date rape drugs like GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) and roofies (Rohypnol), they are odorless and colorless drugs that can make you disoriented or unconscious. It’s hard to believe that someone you are on a date with will slip either of these into your drink, but google it, sadly it does happen.
Do not accept a drink from your date unless you opened it yourself or watched it being prepared by a bartender.
Since we are on the topic of drinks, it isn’t a good idea to have more than one or two alcoholic drinks while on a date with someone you don’t know very well. Alcohol has the tendency to lower your inhibitions and could make it easier for a potential predator to talk you into leaving the public place you selected for the date.
While it’s true that first dates can be a little awkward and it’s easy to think a few drinks will take the edge off and make it easier to have a conversation, you should always stick to a limit on drinks.
If it’s possible, go on a group date for the first date and invite another friend and their date. This way you can get a second opinion if you’re getting bad vibes from your date. In addition, if you start drinking like a fish, your friends can have an eye out for you and make sure you get home safely.
This may sound like us being paranoid again, but bringing along some pepper spray, just in case you get attacked on a first date is just simply a better safe than sorry precaution.
Think about it, if your date misrepresented themselves to you via email or chat in the app, you would not be happy when you met them in person. If you used a MatchMaker, you should have verified information with the MatchMaker before the date.
It is not advisable to share photos or information that is not related to you because when your date discovers they were tricked, it will most likely cause some level of anger and worst case could cause some aggressive behavior. In addition, if you used a MatchMaker, it’s a good idea to verify pictures and videos of your date are correct with your MatchMaker before going on the date. If both of you share a MatchMaker, you are both KnownSingles to that MatchMaker and they should be able to verify information about both of you.
Don’t provide all your personal information on the app until you are sure you want to share it. The KnownSingles app allows you to control what you share by specifying which information you want to share in Privacy Settings. You can communicate in the app instead of providing an email address. If you prefer to use email to communicate outside of the app, it’s a good practice to create a new dating email address which can be used to communicate with potential dates. If it turns out they are not the right person for you, then you have not shared your actual email address with them.
