Check out these do’s and don’ts!

DO: Mention what made you smile in her profile.

This is lots easier on sites like OK Cupid and Match.com with its questions and essays than it is on Tinder or other visual-based apps- where it’s easy to make initial connections, but hard to maintain ‘em.  After you’ve established that you’re both people who love standing in front of painted angel wings, where do you go from there?  Get her talking about an interest you have in common!

DON’T: Write a five paragraph essay mentioning your thoughts on every single thing in her profile

– this feels slightly stalkery and also responding to it will feel like work.  Keep in mind that we’re all probably tapping out responses on phones while waiting in line for coffee, so thoughtful brevity is good!

DO: Make it clear that you’d like to connect with her.

I get a lot of super non-committal messages.  If you don’t want to talk to me, don’t.  If asking me out feels like work, don’t do it.  Easy!

DO: Ask her out if you enjoy talking to her, and feel like she is responsive to you.

After a couple of days of back-and-forth, I’ll stop responding just because I’m a person with a finite amount of time on this earth and I can’t spend it telling twenty people how my weekend was.  Try and make an assessment in a day or two and ask if she’d like to meet.

DON’T: Get mad if she doesn’t want to give you her phone number.

I’ve had a ton of trouble with this, because I think guys think it protects them from being catfished- but if I haven’t met you, I don’t feel safe giving you my number.  Please respect that and don’t #notallmen me.  I know not all men will text with crazy abuse, but it only took one to change my policy.