Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Why Join an HIV-Positive Dating Site

By John Bear

One of the many obstacles that face HIV-positive men and women involves finding ways to continue to have a rewarding social, romantic and sexually fulfilling life. Unfortunately there continues to be fears and stigmas about HIV and AIDS, but nobody living with HIV or AIDS should be forced to live in isolation. Several dating sites have emerged to help HIV-positive individuals meet other people.

Tips and Warnings

The advantages of an HIV-positive dating site is that it gets rid of one of the toughest impediments to dating: telling someone that you are HIV positive. Stay available for change. If you are dating for the first time since you learned you are HIV positive, it is likely that you have changed and grown significantly since your last relationship. You could find yourself dating people unlike anyone you have ever dated previously.

Protect your privacy. Be honest and responsible about your HIV status and other issues, but remember that on the Internet, even on an HIV positive dating site, the spread of truth can be viral.

How to Join an HIV-Positive Dating Site

Only you can make a decision that it is time to begin meeting other people to find someone you would like to date. Decide whether there are specific parameters or requirements for people that you want to meet, including such things as age, gender, HIV status, and profession or relationship status. Look for an HIV-positive dating website that is likely to draw the kinds of people you are looking for.

Locate or take a few good, current photographs of yourself and store them in your computer's "My Pictures" folder. A good, casual and well-lit photo is very important to getting noticed on any dating site. There is nothing worse than posting a "bad" photo of yourself in your profile.

Stay away from dating sites that seem to exist primarily to draw traffic for ulterior advertising purposes, pop-up ads and spam. You can quickly tell in your first few seconds of looking at a site whether or not it is legitimate. Bad websites can do damage to your computer and waste your time without ever putting you in contact with any real people. Ensure that you trust any website before you join the site, or provide private personal information such as email address or credit card information.

You Can Meet Potential Dates on an HIV-Positive Dating Site

Write a fun, easy-going personal ad about yourself and consider running it by your friends for their reactions. Your personal ad and photograph will be your first impression, and will make a tremendous difference in the kind of people you meet and date.

Study other people's personal ads on a site that appeals to you. Join and post your own ad and photograph there or on another legitimate site. Interact with people who interest you, based on their ads or their responses to your personal ad. - 15431