Both psychologists and employees who ensure the work of serious dating sites are sure that a good virtual acquaintance is an acquaintance that has led to strong and harmonious relationships in real life. Of course, it’s good when you have friends around the world who at any time will listen on Skype, read or write a long heartfelt email, talk about the climate in the tropical country where they live, help you rent an apartment for the holidays. But most of us, getting to know each other on the World Wide Web, still hope to find not only the warmth of the soul of another person, but the warmth of a hand that you can touch when you meet. Thus, we take as an axiom the fact that with a successful combination of circumstances, sooner or later, with a virtual acquaintance, there will come a moment of first sight in the real world, the first 10 seconds, minutes, hours ... and all life together.

However, on the Internet, the same first stages of acquaintance are somewhat modified. How does this affect the psychology of dating?

1. In real life, when we meet, we almost always cannot avoid the first glance at each other. On the Internet, our eyes are caressed by photographs. On different dating sites, posting a photo can be optional or a prerequisite. Usually, the more serious the resource, the more stringent moderation conditions the publication of images withstands, which allows you to be sure: in the profile of the person you are interested in, you will see his photo, you can see his face, the picture will really be him, and not a drawn “avatar” and not the goalkeeper of the Italian national team football player Gian Luigi Buffon, the picture will not contain advertising and indecent, offensive material.
Cons: Different people are photogenic in different ways. Someone turns out better than in life, and someone does not look like himself.
Pros: in life, it is often inconvenient for us to openly consider people, since it is unpleasant for us ourselves when strangers shamelessly “stare” at us. When we get to know each other on the Web, sitting comfortably in our favorite chair at the computer, in slippers and a bathrobe, with a cup of tea, we can look at the photo for as long as we like. Even under a magnifying glass.
2. A fleeting 10 seconds of the very first general impression, formed in real life from information that gives us almost all the senses in the first moment of acquaintance, replaces the general impression of the questionnaire when meeting on a specialized site. In life, we unconsciously analyze not so much even the appearance of a person (the anatomy of his face and figure), but how he is dressed (clean, careless, slovenly, unpretentious, elegant, tasteful, stylish), the condition of shoes, hairstyles, nails, hand skin and so on. On the site, we are more conscious, and, as a rule, we evaluate the counterpart's questionnaire in more detail and in detail (how full, how it is framed, straightforwardness and openness, style and manner of presenting information).
Cons: most often, when we first meet in the virtual world, we don’t hear a voice welcoming us, we don’t smell a new acquaintance. And the ability to carefully think over and work out the appearance of your page deprives us of the opportunity to see a person at the moment of improvisation.
Pros: sometimes a person looks good, but the smell emits such that thanks to my computer for the opportunity not to smell the interlocutor. In addition, the Internet makes it possible to immediately draw more information from the profile of the person you are interested in than in real life we get not even for one, but two or three dates. And time to "digest" the available information.
3. During the first ten minutes of the meeting, the couple usually exchange polite, meaningless phrases, trying to start and maintain a conversation. On the Web, correspondence usually begins with the so-called "small" conversations of politeness.
Cons: again, correspondence gives more chances to think over a phrase, depriving a virtual conversation of some spontaneity and, at the same time, naturalness.
Pros: You also have the opportunity to better express your thoughts. And also evaluate the literacy of speech, how carefully your pen friend treats the language. The duration of the correspondence depends only on you.
4. On a first date, people usually have a good time walking in a romantic place (a park or square), or doing something together. Something that both enjoy, like rollerblading or painting (if both are artists). At least, this is how psychologists recommend planning a first date. Also, experts advise after a walk or other joint activity to drink coffee or tea in a cozy cafe, without deafening music, so that you can end a successfully started day with a warm conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. On a dating site, the first, modest and minimalistic joint meal is replaced by the same correspondence.

Cons: it is very important to see how a person behaves at the table, how he eats (even if it is just a light salad or just a cake); does not champ, whether he puts his elbows on the table or keeps them on weight. Very often we like a person, but it's annoying to the point of toothache how noisily he sips tea from a mug. And we understand that we will not be able to listen to this smacking every day.

Pros: if you carefully examined the photo of the user you liked (and he is yours), studied each other's profiles, entered into correspondence, sorting out the initial awkwardness, and you are interested and pleasant to communicate, most likely, you still have ahead, and then, how he drinks a milkshake through a straw will not confuse you, because, most likely, you do it in the same way.