Know More About a Date Before It’s Too Late

The modern dating experience and the hassles that go with it are filled with funny stories and embarrassing events that you would rather keep to yourself. Only if it were true that we have someone suitable every time we go out dating, it would be a happier world for everyone but alas, this wish does not happen automatically. So the next best thing left for us to do is to find out more about a prospective date in order for us to avoid a miserable night with someone you wish you’ll never see again. So if you have experienced being with someone who keeps his mouth shut the entire time except when it’s time for him to feed himself, or when the girl you are with just can’t stop texting, maybe you are already asking yourself what to do to avoid a disastrous date the next time you go out.

Well, there is a way actually and this is all possible because of the increasingly online world we are living in. Some useful stuff can be uncovered by just simply googling the name of your prospective date. It is very likely that a Google search of your date’s name will give a Facebook site. It is also very likely that he or she could be in your network as well which means that the Facebook profile of the prospect is accessible. When this is available, you get a glimpse of your date’s personality because Facebook apps like pictures, status updates, the wall and the information it contains, may highlight some interesting aspects of your date’s character.

There are applications that run in Facebook such as Photo Stalker and Photo Surfer that enables the anonymous viewing of pictures of people who do not list you as your friend. If your date has albums of pictures in his Facebook page whose security is left at its default setting, then the two applications will let you get a peek on a part of your prospect’s daily life. If your date is not so tech savvy and left most of the settings as is, then you can really see what happened during the party everyone was talking about.

Other social networking sites like Tweeter and LinkedIn can give you additional insights regarding your prospective date’s personality. How about status updates? Or tweets? Are they silly/ mundane/pompous? Past tweets can give you evidence of frivolous quirks and questionable behaviour. What if the guy you have eyes on had a recent tweet saying “Yes, I think the other Jonas brother is cute”? Better decide now to avoid certain disappointment.

LinkedIn is a networking site for working professionals. If the girl that you find interesting is listed as a doctor, then this might lead to something interesting, but upon further examination of credentials, you find out that she really is a Doctor of Ichthyology, better know what that title means. Other networking sites might give you a lead into your date’s character. If he is using MySpace, or (gasp!) Friendster, better re-consider if you still want to go out with him. Mapping sites like Foursquare, Postabon and Google Buzz is able to tell you the places where your date frequents. The places where a person drinks, eats, shops, and go for relaxation can tell a lot about his or her personality.

If you are convinced that there is more to him that meets the eye and would like to do some background checks, mobile phone applications like Date Check by Intelius and the Sleaze Detector are able to do this for you. Date Check is a free download but the service of scouring publicly available records in order to get a background check can be expensive. With Date Check, one can secure anyone’s criminal records, living situation, birthdays, and net worth all in the convenience of a mobile phone.

With the Sleaze Detector, additional information that can be a big eye opener can be collected and this includes records of criminal convictions and sex offenses. It could be your life that could be saved if you find out that the person whom you will be talking to later tonight is a druggist or is a felon.

Another application that runs on mobile phones is called the Living Situation. The information that the software is able to get includes who is living with your date and probably tell you whether the man claiming to be single is indeed unmarried or not. He could be telling the truth that he is single but Living Situation will tell you that he did not give a complete picture because he has three kids from a past marriage.

If you are in a middle of the date, applications such as Living Situation and Date Check can be used later to verify details that came up during the conversation. If there is a need, just excuse yourself, go to the washroom and go online to verify whether something that he said is true or not.

While the mobile phone applications mentioned earlier are legal and give out publicly available information, extreme measures such hacking e-mails, installing key loggers in the hope of getting passwords to the sites your date frequents are illegal and could spell the end of a relationship. Be careful if you are contemplating doing such actions because it might reveal information that you don’t really want to know. However, if you have such motives, it means that the relationship was never meant to be in the first place and the best thing to do is just to end it. If your are willing to give each other more of your trust, then Google Latitude might be a useful web application. Using the GPS embedded in your mobile phone, it logs your whereabouts and both of you will see where the other is in real time. When your date says he will be away to visit his mother for the weekend in Los Angeles and if you see him in Las Vegas on Latitude, then something is wrong somewhere.

Another social networking application, Flirtomatic is used to let people flirt online with complete strangers. Because the site requires the submission of a profile that contains pictures of yourself, as a desperate measure, you can join as someone else and interact with your prospective date. How he responds to a supposed to be stranger will surely yield interesting results. Before you do this, know that this is a breach of trust and could mean an end to your relationship.

So far it has been unspoken but if you are able to do some online snooping, others can do the same to you. To protect yourself from such acts, make sure that the security and privacy settings of online networking sites that you are a member such as Facebook are optimized. This include making sure that only friends you trust have access to personal stuff such as albums and wall messages.

When you are confronted with questions resulting from a background check using Intelius’ Date Check, just be honest with your answers just in case your date has also made some online snooping of their own.

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