Facebook dating 101

So how do you use Facebook for dating? Well, let’s just say that you meet someone at the Barnes & Noble and get to chatting but it’s awkward to exchange numbers. It’s easy enough to say: Are you on Facebook? This doesn’t mean that you have to friend them or even find them on Facebook at all but it opens up the conversation. It’s universal lingo for “I want to be social with you” and it’s actually easier than asking for digits because it allows you to reserve judgment as to whether it means friends or dating. You can look them up and see if they are listed as “In a Relationship” and/or if they have 20 photos of chugging beers with the frat boys or eating sushi off of a naked girl. Information is power. Facebook is an information feeding frenzy. You can see who their friends are. And asking a girl if she’s on Facebook may just lead to her giving you her number instead. And you barely had to risk rejection- Facebook took that hit for you. So much easier than my day, where all we had was the bevnap. (I know, I’m dating myself here.)
You can also expand your friend network to increase the pool of who you might encounter- in a post for comments, at a Facebook event your friends join, or on the list of their friends when you are Facebook stalking. (c’mon, everybody does it.) And speaking of which, I have a secret strategy for Matchmaker Café members: if you see someone on Facebook that you want to meet but it is awkward, tell me who it is. I will reach out and invite them join Matchmaker Café, thus finding out if they are single. If they join, I can set you up with them and they are none the wiser. Ya see, I told you I was sneaky like that. ;-)