Tweet Your Way to Dating Success

Sometimes the Twittersphere can feel as if you’re at a party or a networking event. You scroll through your Twitter feed for the latest updates from people who share your interests; you get introduced to new people; you mention others and others mention you. But with the opportunity to connect with so many people, how do you decide how to engage? Just like dating, you have to figure out which methods are most effective at getting the results you want. Some of the same methods you use to get a handle (pun intended) on Twitter might also improve your dating skills. Here are four tips to consider.

1. Creating Your Profile. Your profile should be an accurate representation of who you are in real life. This should be reflected in everything from your photo, to your name, handle, and content of your tweets.

Apply it to Dating: To find a good fit in a partner, you have to start by being honest about who you are. Don’t worry about trying to be everything to everyone. This makes it easier to find someone who will accept and appreciate the real you.

2. Following. How might you determine if following a particular person will be worth your time? You may look at their tweets, their followers, and who they follow. Also consider your approach to following. Do you initiate contact or are you more likely to follow others only after they have followed you? Will changing your approach get you more followers or are you fine with how things are?

Apply it to Dating: It’s crucial that you have a goal before you begin dating. Are you looking to have fun or are you searching for a potential spouse? It’s a good idea to know what qualities you value in a potential mate. This way, you make the most of your time during your search for the right person. Do you notice a similarity in how you initiate contact on Twitter and how you approach dating? For example, do you prefer to be asked out or is it no big deal for you to make the first move? Do you think you need to change your approach to get better results?

3. Mentions and Interactions. Your followers may give you a compliment by retweeting you or mentioning you in their tweets. But you won’t know if you don’t pay attention. Also consider how you respond to compliments. Do you return them when appropriate?

Apply it to Dating: Be aware of signs that someone is flirting with you and flirt back if you are interested. Remember, though, flirting doesn’t always lead to something serious and it doesn’t always have to be reciprocal.

4. Unfollowing. If you decided to follow someone for a particular reason and that person is no longer living up to your expectations, you have the option of unfollowing him or her. In some cases, you may have to block certain followers who you perceive as threatening. It might also be a good idea to periodically unfollow those who are no longer following you – except in the most unusual circumstances such as when you are following a celebrity you don’t know personally. But most likely, you accepted this possibility when you decided to follow that particular celebrity.

Apply it to Dating: Periodically assess your relationships and if they have become stagnant, negative, or dangerous, it is time to move on. Also, remaining interested in people who aren’t interested in leaves you with less time to focus on people who actually want to connect with you. Don’t waste time dwelling on reasons why someone lost interest in you. You may never really know and it’s probably for the best that things didn’t work out.

Although dating can be challenging, applying what you’ve learned to become an effective Twitter user might just increase your chances of dating success.