Please review the following safety tips before beginning any on-line communications. These tips are designed to help improve and protect your on-line dating experience by utilizing safe and common-sense guidelines. Keep safety and anonymity in mind by not disclosing personal information such as last name, telephone number, home address, or external (personal) e-mail address in your initial messages or profile. Be wary of anyone who pressures you to disclose personal information immediately. Remember that although on-line dating may be the safest was to date and establish relationships in a slow and confidential manner there still are risks. Some members may disregard the rules and present themselves in a false or misleading manner. Take time to test for trustworthiness by asking a lot of questions. If you detect a pattern of inconsistent information, lying, or failure to provide direct answers to direct information, be suspicious and act accordingly by stopping communications. If you suspect someone to be dishonest, they probably are. Trust yourself and go with your best instincts. Don’t respond to messages from members if the message content is sexually graphic, inappropriate, or makes you feel uncomfortable in any way. Sometimes the best response is no response. Do report any receipt of any offensive material to Romance Link. Start slowly. The best relationships build over time so take things at a slow pace. Be responsible about romance and don’t accelerate the possibility of love before sufficient time to get to know the other person. Respect your boundaries and expect and request others to respect yours. Remember you are in control and can choose to end any on-line communications you choose. No one should pressure you into revealing anything about yourself you do not feel comfortable disclosing or meeting off-line before you are ready. Feel comfortable to decline any invitation or situation in which you are not completely comfortable. If you choose to meet off-line, do so only when you feel ready. Remember, you are not obligated to meet anyone off-line. Consider a phone chat before meeting in-person to give you a further sense of the member’s personality and communication skills. You may want to use a cell phone number instead of home number or use telephone number blocking techniques initially to ensure security and privacy. When meeting in person, always choose a public place to meet and let others know when and where you will be meeting. Never arrange for a date to pick you up at your home or arrange your transportation. If anything uncomfortable begins to occur on the date, excuse yourself to call a friend for assistance or advice or call an end to the meeting. Never feel obligated to continue on a date if you are feeling uncomfortable or afraid. Always present yourself in a real and honest manner in all your communications. Remember the goal is to meet new friends or develop long lasting relationships and this cannot occur without you being yourself. Be patient with the on-line process. Romance Link offers a wide variety of members to communicate with so don’t get discouraged if your first attempts at on-line dating don’t produce a love match. Above all, we hope you have fun and enjoy the exciting experience of connecting with new, high quality people.