There’s no point denying it; dating has gotten a LOT more complicated thanks to the introduction of social media.
Gone are the days of phoning someone up to arrange a date, and meeting them organically to flirt in person.
Nope, instead we have to craft perfectly worded (and cryptic) statuses, and embark on some flanter via social media.
As Drew Barrymore put it in He’s Just Not That Into You: “If I want to make myself more attractive to the opposite sex, I don't go and get a haircut. I update my profile.”
However it seems as if we’ve all been making a BIG mistake in adding our prospective lovers as friends on Facebook.
Eep.
Not only does it add a whole new level of ‘relationship paranoia’ to proceedings (WHY HAVEN’T THEY MESSAGED ME BACK / POKED ME / LIKED MY STATUS / ASKED ME TO BE ‘IN A RELATIONSHIP’?!?!), but it can also do a whole lotta damage to your budding romance.
Why?
TMI, essentially.
Speaking to the Huffington Post, Dating Expert Sarah Gooding of Plenty of Fish explained that it’s better for you AND your new relationship if you wait to add someone on Facebook.
She explained: “When it comes to dating, you want to try to reveal yourself a bit slowly.
"Part of the romance is discovering someone... who they are, their past, their present you know, over time. That's part of the romance of meeting someone new."
She added that new couples should wait until at least the third or fourth date before even THINKING about becoming Facebook friends.
“Your Facebook is really an extension of yourself and so just like you wouldn’t talk about religion or politics or your past relationships on a first date,” she said firmly.
“If you haven’t talked about your past relationships and you haven’t yet shared that information with a person, then I probably would have those conversations before you share all of it through your Facebook account.”
We guess it’s better than having them judge us by trawling through our old tagged photos and statuses, eh?
There’s nothing like having the past taken out of context to ruin a good date.
When did you add your partner as a friend on Facebook?
Let us know via Facebook or Twitter (@CloserOnline) now.
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