Facebook Has Changed the Way We Seek, Court and Whoo

Its 2010 and we all know a few people that have met boyfriends or girlfriends online. Facebook, Myspace, or Lavalife, many people these days find love online. A recent estimate claimed that of all marriages this year, one in five resulted from couples who met online. Even more shocking, that number is expected to pass 50% within a few years. Sure meeting people from Facebook provides a context (you share friends) and can be alluring (everyone has at least ONE great photo of themselves) but at the end of the day, we can all agree, chemistry rules. Nothing Mark Zuckerberg can do will help overcome bad breath or first date mishaps.

If you are thinking about tossing your hat in the online pool, here are some quick and easy tips to keep in mind:

1. Stay Mysterious. One common mistake that people make online is that they reveal far too much about themselves too soon. Even if you are my best friend's brother's bestie, nobody likes to hear your tales of woe or how you partied far too hard last night and woke up in the bus station. Keep some mystery so that you'll have conversation items for dates 2, 3 and beyond.

2. Don't Embellish (too much). Its easy to glorify and exaggerate online. Heck, we've all nudged our height, weight or eye color towards our ideal. But revealing things about yourself that are not entirely true is a short term solution with no possible upside. My advice would be to make sure that you always tell the truth about yourself. It will make that first date a lot less stressful.

3. Be Guarded. We all know about the Craigslist creepers and Facebook fiends that are masking their true identity for other purposes. Sad as it is, there are people out there constantly trying to take advantage of nice people (like you!). So don't give out your phone number, your email and for heaven's sake, not your PIN! When you set your first date, be sure to pick a public spot or bring a friend.

Bottom line is that you have to use your head and be smart. Don't assume that common friends means common goals.