Hi everyone! Claire here, founder of Parry. I feel like this topic is pretty relevant since dating apps have become so popular over the years. Fun fact – I actually met my husband, Stephen, on Hinge! And I’ll be honest, looking back I could have taken a few (read: a lot) more precautions when vetting Stephen and going out on our date. But, this was 2015 and social media wasn’t what it was today and I also wasn’t true crime obsessed. Needless to say, if 2021 Claire was going out on that date, she definitely would have approached it differently. And look, I’m not saying that the next Ted Bundy is going to be your Hinge date, but at the end of the day as women we have to be proceed with caution. That being said, let’s dive into the seven tips that we recommend for women to stay safe on dating apps:
- Look them up on Facebook, IG, LinkedIn, Tiktok, etc. Doing a little digging before your date never hurt anyone, in fact, it can actually prevent you from getting hurt! Make sure that who they are presenting themself to be on the dating app is aligning with their social media.
- FaceTime or video chat beforehand. I know not everyone will feel comfortable doing this but I feel like video dates/FaceTime chats became increasingly popular in 2020 thanks to the pandemic. So if you’re able to do a video call beforehand, it will only help solidify that the person is who the say they are.
- Drive separately to your date/meeting spot and make sure the spot is public. Do not have someone pick you up from where you live on the first date (I’d also argue that you need to have a few dates with someone before handing out your home address). Make sure you’re driving separately to where you’re meeting and someplace that is public. We don’t need you driving separately but just to their house/apartment…
- Share their dating profile/social accounts with a friend.
- Make sure someone knows you’re going on said date and where you’re going. And obviously you can always use Parry to send your exact current location once you’re out if you start to feel uneasy (that’s what we’re here for!), but it doesn’t hurt to give a friend a heads up about your plans beforehand.
- Pre-program Parry ahead of time to receive the fake call 30 minute or 1 hour into your date. You can always ignore this call if the date is going well, but as you’re going into the date, you can choose Parry’s 30 minute or 1 hour call delay so you know you have an out in the near future if you need one.
- When the date is over, walk to your car vs. them driving you there. We recommend parking somewhere public, so if you walk to your car together you can have other people around.
Any other tips you can share? We’d love to hear them!
