Even the best dating sites in San Francisco come with the need to be cautious about safety — and for young adults, it’s a crucial factor in chatting to anyone online.
Online dating has innovated a great deal since the early days, and it’s common to find security measures such as:
- Profile ID verification
- Full SSL message encryption
- Block and report functions
However, students dating online should always be fully informed about the best safety tips to ensure they have positive dating experiences.
In this guide, the Best10Dating team runs through our ten tips for online dating student safety, whichever dating sites in New York you might be using.
1. Check Out Platform Reviews
We’ve mentioned some of the standard safety features, but the reality is that there are about 2,500 US dating sites, and some are way safer than others!
The first place to start any online dating journey is to check out the app before you download it or read the reviews of a platform before you register.
While there are some fantastic dating sites in San Francisco aimed at students, it’s also clear that some spammy apps target college pupils with less than good intentions.
Your best bet is to go for a well-known dating site or one that comes with an independent recommendation.
The trade-off is that you’ll usually need to pay a few dollars a month to use a premium dating service, but it’s far better than chancing it on a random site and finding out you’ve been scammed or a fraudster stole your ID details.
2. Maintain Personal Privacy
Never include personal information in your profile, such as your address, phone number, or email address.
Make sure to keep the information you share on your other virtual platforms to a minimum. Think about it like this — if you use your full name, how much information could someone find out about you through social media, LinkedIn, or group pages?
Set all of your social media accounts’ security settings private and never allow an app to share your location — it’s a sure-fire way to protect your identity and keep your privacy.
3. Look Into Potential Dates
Ok, so we’re not saying you need to stalk someone relentlessly online before you agree to chat with them — but playing a bit of detective is quite smart!
You want to know whoever you’re chatting to is who they claim to be — so you can check out:
- Profile pictures on other sites to verify if they’re the same.
- What they post or tweet about to check if it matches with their online dating persona.
- Whether their image is authentic (Google reverse image search, hello!).
4. Practise Smart Dating Precautions
You know all this stuff already, but let’s recap:
- Don’t meet anyone you don’t know in a secluded space.
- Always tell a friend where you’re going — or bring them along.
- Meet somewhere familiar, where you know how to get home.
- Have an emergency backup you can call if things aren’t right.
- Carry pepper spray, just in case.
Recommended Read: Online Dating Scams: Things You Need to Know & How to Avoid Them
5. Never Hesitate to Block and Report
We get it, especially if you’re new to an online dating site or aren’t 100% sure if someone is dodgy or simply a bit socially awkward, it can take a lot to feel justified in hitting that report button.
Please do it. Every time.
Trust your gut to tell you when something feels off, and never worry about reporting someone who made you feel uncomfortable — even if they didn’t intend to.
Site admins are there for your protection (it’s literally their job), and if you’ve made a misjudgment, they won’t ban another member for life once they’ve investigated the situation.
6. Don’t Give Away Your Address, School, or Location
It’s so easy to be tricked into giving out information that doesn’t feel private.
After all, it’s just the name of your college, not your bank account number, right?
Be cautious. School websites and social media contain plenty of information, so if you’ve told someone where you study or posted a picture on your dating profile in a jacket or anything with an identifying logo, you put yourself at risk.
7. Use Google Voice — Never Give Your Number to a Stranger
Giving out your number means you trust this person to be who they say they are and respect your boundaries.
It’s pretty tough to know someone that well from a few online chats, so Google Voice is a great middle ground.
You still get to chat and get to know each other a bit better but aren’t exposing yourself to harassment if you decide you’re not up for a date.
Don’t forget — voice call, video call, then date, always in that order.
8. Don’t Automatically Trust School Members
Ah, here’s a trick as old as time! Creepy people on dating apps will use every con they can find to get unsuspecting people to commit to chatting to them or meet up for a date under false pretenses.
One of the easiest ways to do that is through a student dating app, and feigning either that they study there (conveniently never in your classes, with zero mutual acquaintances) or that they graduated just before you joined.
Take that with a heavy pinch of salt, and never use it to make a judgment about whether you’re going to meet someone alone!
It’s super easy to find out information about a campus or list of teachers online (try it yourself, you’ll see how easy it is to fake it!).
9. Sort Out Your Own Travel Arrangements
This rule applies to all dating, at any age.
If you’re reliant on a stranger to get you home, you’re putting yourself at their mercy — as to when they leave, whether they take you where they’ve said they will, and of course being locked in a small vehicle with someone you’ve never met.
Yes, it’s paranoid. Yes, it’s probably unnecessary. Yes, it’s never a risk you should take.
Book a cab, get a lift from a friend, find out where the nearest station is, but don’t leave your chances of getting home safely in anybody else’s hands.
10. Stay Sober
No matter how many times you’ve chatted on the dating sites in New York, you don’t know someone you have met online — and it’s never wise to get drunk on a date.
Meet in the afternoon, go for a walk around the park, and steer well clear of anyone who suggests you meet in person in a dark, remote bar, where you’ll find it tough to get help if anything turns out to be a bit suspect.
