It's a match! The double taps, swiping left and right for compatibility, and the familiar ring of finding a match are all new ways love gets delivered through the screen. In this new era, where apps like Tinder, Bumble, Match.com, Plenty of Fish, etc., play cupid to find you your perfect match with online dating culture, there are also associated risks.

For starters, to date, a person who, for all you know, could be a serial killer looking cute on his Snapchat filter is not a danger far from death. Now that we have got you afraid of your online dating experience, here are a few online dating problems, advice, and tips to secure your online dating experience and have positive psychological effects of online dating.

Online dating culture

Online dating has become so popular that, according to Match.com, 53% of singles have jumped onto the trend and created their profiles. New online dating platforms are coming up by the minute that promises you a better online dating experience than the previous one.

Tips to secure your online dating experience and your quest for your “special someone”-

Online dating culture can be pretty blinding, significantly if jumped into with no prior knowledge or safety. However, not all online dating experience is complex. Here are a few tips for you to keep in mind before you jump in with the online dating culture.

1) Do Your Research

In the era of online dating, when you have Google to follow you everywhere, follow the usual drill- investigate and do background checks on your date BEFORE meeting them. You must research before meeting your date, so you may know more about their interests and any red flags you need to avoid. If possible, try to find pictures and see what additional information about the person beyond Facebook and Instagram.

2) Use a Google Voice Number Instead of Your Own

Google Voice helps you answer calls, texts and block contacts that are sketchy, all without revealing your genuine contact number. For a person, online whose picture you found hot but know nothing about, get a free Google Voice Number and use that to contact your date.

Keep your number secure, and only for people, you feel comfortable with. This helps keep the online dating experience safe without giving away too much of you for online dating culture.

3) Video Chat Your Date Before Meeting

Most of the online dating culture problems come from people posing as someone or something they are not. The risk of getting catfished is very much higher in the online dating experience, and here's a tip to avoid that.

Video chat your date before the actual offline date. Today, there are so many ways to video chat to use FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Skype, and even Facebook for video calls. It's a good idea to get a glimpse of your date before meeting him or her. You would at least now know that you haven't been chatting with Kermit, the frog, and it is an actual human.

4) Chat by Phone Before the First Date

No other perfect expression than a dose of old-school romance comes to the rescue of your online dating experience. Call your date before meeting them via your google voice number (you are still not in the zone of sharing your number, so play safe).

Why is this a good idea? Despite the initial nervousness and fear of talking to a stranger you have only texted for so long, talking to your date helps you to study their voice and pick up specific verbal cues that may be hidden through instant messaging or texts. Additionally, this gives you the chance to feel the individual better before the first meeting.

5) Drive Yourself or Take Public Transportation

Don't accept the invitation to carpool- take your vehicle or use public transportation if possible. Your online date would find out where you live and essentially have control over where you two go by carpooling. Taking your vehicle also lowers the risk of putting yourself in an uncomfortable or even dangerous situation because you'll be in control over where you go. Your address remains a secret, and this ensures a secure online dating experience.

6) Meet-Up in a Public Place

Meeting in a public place for the first few dates until you know your date entirely is key to being safe in online dating culture. You will have many people around if something goes amiss, and you need all the knights you need to save yourself.

You could meet at public places like a restaurant, cafe, skating rink, or another place where there's typically a good crowd. Additionally, this allows a family member or friend to be present or in the vicinity should something go wrong.

As another great tip, if you visit a bar or restaurant, let a bartender or waitress know if things aren't going right on your date through code. Some bars have secret codes like asking for an "Angel Shot" that guests could use to notify a staff member that something's off-key. You can also set codes to text or a deliberately missed call to a friend in the vicinity to help you out.

7) Tell Someone Else the Deets

No, this doesn't mean just to your girls or guy gossip group. This means you give the details to someone responsible and someone you can count on to help you if something goes wrong. Let that someone else know who your date is, where you are going when you expect to be home and any other important details.

It gives you the comfort of knowing someone else knows where you're supposed to be if something goes wrong. If your girls' gossip group is the most trustworthy, let them in on important details apart from the striped scarf that your date is wearing. (Yeah, we know, so outdated. You might want to give him a makeover.)

8) Don’t Give Out Too Much Personal Info. Upfront

Be careful about the information you share. Don't give out places you usually visit, your family members' locations, your birthday, and other personal information so quickly. After you and your date get to know each other a little better and feel more comfortable, then you can share a little more about yourself. But until then, keep your sister's, brother's, father's, mother's, friend's, dog's phone number out of your dating picture!

9) Carry Pepper Spray

A handy weapon in most situations, uncap, press, and watch the drama unfold. Who said you couldn't be your knight? Just a pepper spray would do. Should things go wrong on your date, carrying a can of pepper spray is the best help you can get? Also, be sure that you know how to use your pepper spray should you decide to carry it.

Read More: Jealousy in a Relationship: The Story Behind and After

10) Stay Sober

One big mistake that people tend to make while meeting an online date is drinking without being mindful that their date might not have the best intentions. Almost 50 million people online dating today commit this mistake.

However, with the landscape of dating changing, it's still important to keep your safety in mind when meeting with people you don't know very well. Don't drink or get off too intoxicated until you know and trust the person opposite to you. No, trust isn't when you know their shoe size or favourite Instagram filter. So, don't give in easily.

With these tips, we hope to make your online dating experience as safe and memorable as possible. Online dating culture is all roses and red, as far as you stay safe in this quest for your "special someone."