Dating Tales

A friend of mine met a guy online and had several great dates with him. After date three she Googled him and discovered through a professional bio that he had two kids. His profile said nothing about kids and at no time during all three dates did he mention kids or ex-wives.

She was in a predicament. Should she confront him angrily and let him know what she had been up to or should she just wait for him to come clean? She tried waiting, but after a few phone calls and the fourth date he said nothing. Even more annoyed now, she finally brought it up in an e-mail. After that, no response at all.

This is a great example of how Googling can either hurt you, help you, or both. However you decide to deal with your search engine of choice, just be prepared for the consequences. You may learn things he didn’t disclose and should have, or you might you might find that he contradicts himself. The tip: be honest about your doings and if you Google him, tell him you did.

Another dating tip for you is to avoid a full-blown online investigation. You might be inclined to look for him on every social networking site that exists. No doubt this is one way to get to know a person, but it’s not exactly authentic. This is where it starts to border on stalking so I suggest holding off on the intense background searches until he tells you where he has online profiles. At this point it seems more like an invitation rather than a police investigation.

The internet is an excellent tool for educating ourselves and though we’re all normal for wanting to know more about the people in our lives, don’t take it too far. Happy Googling.