Change Your Facebook Account Settings Before Adding A Date As A Friend

As I mentioned in my blog post, Facebook Stalking Can Kill Your Online Dating Success, daters will check out their potential date’s profile prior to the date.

Match.com found that 1 out of 6 singles between the ages of 21-34 thinks it ok to “friend’ your new date prior to meeting.

26% of the same group think it’s ok to add a date as a Facebook friend after 2-3 dates.

Adding someone as a friend before even meeting is a bad idea. I suggest you do not add someone as a friend to Facebook because you may have a post or photo that may offend or scare off your date.

38% of singles will cancel a date based on information they found on Facebook according to Match.com.

If you choose not to heed my advice be sure to change some of your Facebook account settings and clean up your profile.

If you do decide to not add a date as a Facebook friend you should check your Facebook account settings privacy section to be sure you don’t have any “Public” options so people can look you up on Facebook and see your photos and posts.

About Section

The first Facebook account settings you should check is your relationship status.

This goes without saying but your relationship status should only be “single.”

None of this “it’s complicated” nonsense or anything else. Single. Always.

If religion and politics are important to you then feel free to specify your views. Being specific can can help you if the woman you are adding shares the same values that you have.

Remember, women who share your political beliefs will find you more attractive. I discuss this here; Political Beliefs Impact Online Dating Results.

Keep in mind that you could scare women away who are on opposite ends of your political views. If you are a hardcore Republican and add that hot woman who is a Democrat she may end the date before it begins because you differ politically.

You need to decide how important these are to your and adjust your Facebook account settings accordingly.

Photo Albums

The second Facebook account settings you should check are your photos. This includes your Albums and Timeline photos.

Remove all offensive pictures, party pictures, pictures with different women hanging over you, etc..

You have to look at this through the eyes of a woman.

Think to yourself “What would a woman think about me when viewing my photos?”

If you have a bunch of pictures with women hanging all over you at clubs the woman who you are trying to date may think you are not serious about looking for a relationship and think you are a player.

I recommend not having too many selfies. As I pointed out in another blog post, Why Selfies May Indicate Narcissistic Traits. And you are a man, you shouldn’t be doing selfies anyway.

Your albums should consist of fun pictures, pictures showing you are adventurous, pictures with family and friends. Examples would be hiking, obstacle course racing like the Spartan Race, zip lining, family pictures, pictures at the ball game with your friends, wine tasting, running in the park with your dog, and throwing a football on the beach. You get the idea.

Basically, if you keep it positive you’ll be fine.

Create a Facebook List

One of the Facebook account settings you should use is a “list”. A list is an easy way to control the photos and albums that people can see on your Facebook profile.

Step 1. The first step is to move your mouse to the “Friends” category on the Facebook home page. When you do, the “More” link will appear. Click the link.



Step 2. Click the “+ Create List” button.



Step 3. Name your list. Note you cannot add names of people who are not your Facebook friends yet. You can come back to this as soon as you add anyone as a friend. The idea is to set up the list and add it to the photo albums you don’t want potential dates to see.

Step 4. Go to your album and click on the bottom right of it. In the menu that appears select “custom“.




Step 5. In the popup enter your custom list then hit “Save.“

Congratulations! You have added a list to your album. When you add someone as a Friend who you don’t want to see certain albums or images, you can add them to the list.

Clean Your Facebook Wall

The last thing you should do is remove anything negative on your Facebook wall.

Too many people use their Facebook wall to vent about everything; work, relationships, friends, family, the guy who cut them off on the freeway, the crappy Starbucks barista, their sports team, politicians, the guy who didn’t wipe down his treadmill at the gym, and much more.

Don’t be that guy.

Remove all rants, swearing, anger, etc…

Stay positive.

Women you add will scroll through your timeline. But only so far.

You should clean up your wall for the past few months up to a year.

This depends on how active you are on Facebook.

I’m not very active on Facebook so I can scroll down and cover one year pretty easy.

But some people feel the need to update their timeline daily.

You need to go through your Facebook wall and get rid of anything that would offend a potential date.

Remember, 38% of singles will cancel a date based on information they found on Facebook.

Don’t risk it.

I’m not saying you have to go back to 2008 on your dating profile. Merely cover yourself a few scrolls down.

Conclusion

I can’t emphasize how bad of an idea I think it is to add a date a Facebook friend before you meet.

If you choose not to add a date you should also check your “Privacy” in your Facebook account settings. Keep it private, not public.

If you must add a date, be sure to change your Facebook account settings.

Check your “About me” section, clean up your photos, add a Facebook list for photos, and clean up your Facebook timeline.

By changing these Facebook account settings you may stop a date from cancelling on you before the first date happens.

What do you think about updating your Facebook account settings? Leave your thoughts below.