How Can I Date Safely?

Learn More About Dating Safely

Fun, romance, excitement. Those are all things many people wish for in their dating lives. But safety should also be an important part of your dating experience.

Sorry if that was a buzzkill. Fortunately, safety can go hand-in-hand with all the more interesting aspects of dating. How can you make sure you stay safe when you’re dating?

Meet People Through Your Friends

You can definitely meet a significant other at a bar, through online dating, or on an online dating service. It’s even very safe to do in most situations, especially if you’re able to keep your wits about you. But if safety is a top priority, you might want to consider relying on your friend group. That definitely makes it more likely you’ll find someone safe.

This doesn’t mean that you need to date someone in your group. (Although, if there’s chemistry there, why not try it out?) Rather, see if your friends have other friends with whom they think you could be a good match. As a bonus, if you’re set up with the friend of a friend, you already know you have something in common to talk about.

Date in a Group

One-on-one dates can be incredibly romantic and fun. Once you get to know someone, it’s awesome to go out on private dates. But when you’re still trying to get to know that person, consider group dates for the best security. There’s safety in numbers, after all.

If your group already does group dates, perfect. Just bring your date along next time you all plan to go out. If not, you may want to talk to your friends about doing something together. There’s no shame in admitting that you want to do group dates because you’re worried about safety. Your friends may also enjoy the safety of a group, making it perfect for everyone.

Plan Out Dates and Let Your Friends Know

This is a classic method of ensuring that you go on a safe date. Just talk to a friend who knows you well and let that friend know of your date plans for the night. Text your friend when you leave, including an ETA of what time you’ll be home, and text the friend when you get back home. It doesn’t have to be much — maybe settle on a specific emoji that you’ll text when you get home.

If you’ve never done this before, it basically gives your friend a timeline of your own behaviors. The idea is that, should something go wrong, your friend will know because you didn’t text...because you didn’t make it home. If something bad does happen, your friend will know and can contact proper authorities much faster than if someone doesn’t realize you’re hurt or missing until the next day.

How Can I Stay Safe With Online Dating?

Because online dating is relatively new when compared with more traditional ways of meeting a potential partner, some people still worry about potential danger. So how do you mitigate those potential dangers?

Listen to Your Gut

This isn’t 100% accurate, and your gut can definitely mislead you. But you might be surprised how accurate it can be overall. You just need to listen to what you really think about someone when you talk to them. Is there a little voice in the back of your head telling you to get away? Don’t take the chance. Just try someone else.

Some people get worried about excluding people just based on a gut feeling, wondering if it’s rude or unfair. But the thing to remember here is that you’re not excluding a friend from a group hangout because you aren’t interested in talking today. You honestly don’t know this person who messaged you on a dating site. Definitely listen to your gut over your fears of missing out.

Look Up Your Date Beforehand

Each online dating service provides at least a small amount of information about each member. But you should go beyond that if you’re trying to maintain your safety. The more information you have about someone, the more likely it is that you’ll actually be comfortable and happy about whatever’s going on. That, in turn, means the date has a higher chance of going well.

You can look up a date through various social media channels, with general internet searches, or using a people search on PeopleFinders. With a PeopleFinders people search, you may be able to find the most thorough knowledge about your potential date. You can try to verify your date’s identity and check for a criminal record, all at the same time, on one site.

Don’t Be Overly Suspicious

Most people who create profiles on dating apps and websites have good intentions in mind. Just like any other dating activity, it’s unlikely that you’ll run into someone dangerous. Being extremely suspicious of potential dates can ruin the experience for both of you. Instead of being suspicious, allow yourself to just be thoughtful.

What does that mean? Well, essentially it means that you pay attention to what happens. You don’t disregard things that might worry you just because you really want to like this person. But you also don’t overtly react to things that might be innocent just because you’re worried about your date going poorly. You can strike a balance between the two.

What Tools Can I Use to Stay Safe on Dates?

Whether you’re dating online or in-person, you need some resources that will help you find the information you need to screen your dates. So what tools will get you there most effectively?

Criminal Records Search

If you want to make sure you don’t run into a potentially violent situation, the criminal records search at PeopleFinders is a good first stop. Many people worry about violence or general misconduct on the first few dates because you don’t really know your date very well yet. PeopleFinders may help you turn that worry into confidence.

When you perform a criminal records search, you’re looking through billions of records for millions of American adults. That’s why it’s such a useful tool. It’s not just accessible, it’s also accurate, fast and very effective.

Reverse Phone Lookup

Nearly everyone has a cell phone in this day and age, and it’s become a primary source of communication for many people across the world. That’s why it’s still common practice to give a date your phone number. That’s good news for you: if you have someone’s phone number, you also have access to a lot of information about that person.

All you have to do is plug your date’s number into the reverse phone lookup at PeopleFinders. In fact, this is one of the best ways to get information about your date because you don’t even have to worry about narrowing down groups of people with the same name. Once you’re sure you have the right person, you can dig down deeper to see if you can access other contact information, any available criminal records information, and more.

Public Records Search

There’s a lot of miscellaneous information you might want to know about a potential significant other, some of which you may be able to find through a public records search. Different states and jurisdictions impose different requirements for public records, which means there’s basically no telling what you might find with a public records search.

Really the best thing for you to do is just to go for it and see what happens. What documents will you be able to uncover with a public records search from PeopleFinders? You’ll just have to try it out, and learn more about your date.