Before the Internet, dating was like the Wild West. It was an untamed frontier of bar hook-ups and public introductions. 90s era dating reminds me about dating seminars on how to become more confidant and desirable. My favorite movie example of which is Tom Cruise’s character from the film Magnolia and his seminar: Seduce and Destroy.
The Internet has changed dating forever. In the early days of Internet dating, there was a stigma against it because of the disproportionate amount of male users. Nowadays women frequent online dating sites about as much as men, and the negative stigma got downgraded to “use caution”. Where I live there is almost no stigma whatsoever about online dating, probably because free services have reached a healthy 50/50 split of male and female users.
The BlackBerry can be the ultimate tool for online dating. The keypad for quick and accurate text entry is an edge that the BlackBerry has in cyber flirting by text, social network, or BBM. There is also a bunch of software available that can help you in a variety of ways.
The BlackBerry itself is a great conversation starter. When I notice someone else with a BlackBerry, I know I can talk about something funny or interesting BlackBerry related long enough to break the ice and introduce myself properly. I find that the BlackBerry projects a certain amount of responsibility and professionalism too.
Dating Tips for Women and Men is a mobile dating tips database by Incelligence Inc. It’s Available for $1.99 in the BlackBerryCool.com store for Men and for Women, that’s $1 off the same software in BlackBerry App World.
I like this app because it can keep you focused on your goal and give you apt advice every step of the way. The tips themselves are all about the fundamentals: being pleasant, presentable, funny and charming. The tips are sorted into categories and go from first impressions, to going steady. For Women, the tips include a special section full of great advice all about online dating safety and security.
PlentyofFish.com and Personals.Yahoo.com are great free online dating sites with reputations of near 50/50 men to women ratios. While on the site you make a profile, browse other profiles, send messages and send virtual gifts. The sites are not too demanding on your BlackBerry web browser and will run on your BlackBerry browser particularly well in column mode. If you have trouble viewing some buttons of navigating a tricky page, try it with your browser ID setting set to Firefox or IE. To figure out which service is more popular in your area, try a simple search of what kind of person you’re looking for and see how many results are returned.
Men: like in the real world, guys do most of the first connections on free dating sites so fill out your profile, browse for dates, and send some good introductory messages. Take some time to really craft your profile because they are oftentimes checked before your message is even opened.
Women: focus on building your profile, responding to messages, and check the “viewed me” listing to see who has taken notice of you. Drag things out a tad before meeting in person if you want to thin out people who want quick hookups.
Set the Mood by David Cabal for BlackBerry will turn you into a techy Casanova. When you start it up, Set the Mood will ignore all communications, and put on some light jazz. The screen will display an animated fireplace for a short while and then go dark so it won’t be too much of a distraction.
This software reminds me of every scene of romance that has ever been depicted on the Starship Enterprise. Buy Set the Mood for 99 cents until May 31st
Intimacy Tracker by Collaber Solutions is an app to help you keep a log of your –ahem- performance.
Handy if:
- You want to track spousal trends
- You have a lot of lovers
- You have long gaps between sessions
- You wish to fairly mange your polygamous relationships
- You are a sports or rock star hoping to write a Chamberlain-ian biography.
Intimacy Tracker also lets you share items of interest by emailing partners and friends. Intimacy Tracker offers an attractive user interface with daily, weekly, and monthly stats. The app costs $4.99 until May 31st.
Another BlackBerry dating tip that is often ignored is leaving your PIN around the Internet. Have you ever read App World reviews and noticed that there are a ton of PINs left by Spanish BlackBerry users? Running them through Google Translate I discovered that they’re all looking to hook up with other users and flirt. I’m not even sure if this works, but it’s worth a try. Feel free to leave your PIN on App World reviews and blogs and see who adds you. Who knows, you might make a friend.
Speaking of PIN swapping: Pinvote is a service similar to Hot or Not, but puts a twist on it by allowing you to buy credits to contact a user via BBM. It seems like a strange way to meet a friend, but it could be the start of a beautiful friendship. Be sure to check out the plethora of other PIN exchange services such as PinSwap or this PIN exchange page on Facebook.
If you’ve heard about it forever and are still hesitant I’ve got some advice for you. Of the dozens of people I’ve spoken with about online dating, the one thing they all agree on is that even the dates that don’t go anywhere are tons of fun. I’m sure you’ll enjoy dipping your toe in the online dating waters.
