Find Love Blog

Do You Google Your Date?

In an online world where everyone is truly connected within six degrees or less, Susi Weaser made an interesting point on her blog, DollyMix: watch how much personal information you share with your date, and be even more careful with how you tell your friends about said date.

Susi’s take is that dating should be banned from the Internet, which isn’t necessarily something I agree with. However, she does make a valid point using her own personal experience:

“After a date which was very enjoyable, but not full of sparks, I wrote something to this effect on my Status Update. I know. I’m a fool.”

The Status Update she’s referring to was on Facebook, and since her date knew her last name, he had no trouble finding her – or her honest post.

I have to admit I’ve never Googled a date, although my dates have told me they’ve Googled me countless times, which is why I tell people before I meet them that one of my writing gigs is dating-related. I also assure them that I write from an advice perspective, not a tell-all that may include them and said date.

Still, I find it the whole concept a bit unsettling, and wonder if people feel better after Googling their dates or not. I remember watching the TV show FlashForward a while back, where one of the characters Googled her date, and this action caused the fledgling relationship to implode. Yet if you want to date safely in this day and age, is it safe not to do a bit of sleuthing? Or even to check for your date on sites like Don’t Date Him Girl, to see if prior dates share the real story behind your potential Romeo (or Juliet)?

So you tell me: is it okay to Google your date? Do you? How far can you go without getting creepy or stalker-ish? What construes overstepping the line, and what behavior is acceptable? Why or why not?

_{Related: Would You Check Your Date’s Cell Phone?, Could Your Date Be a Registered Sex Offender?, Before You Meet Someone.}

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