Internet Personals

Demographics of the internet: one-third of American adults now have internet access. They are (a) literate and (b) computer users.

Safety first:

Use a screen name that does not reveal your real name. Some of the personal sites (like Yahoo's) will let you create a new screen name.

Women need to be very careful if they live alone. Do not give out your phone number until you trust the person. To see how easy it is to find your name and address just using your phone number, try www.lycos.com/peoplefind/ and click on Reverse Lookup.

The first meeting should always be in a public place. Have your own transportation.

Writing Hints:

Write your ad before you go online. You can usually copy and paste it into the form that is on the website.

Consider the qualities that are most important in the person you are seeking and indicate them. Why waste your time and theirs?

If you are going to respond to ads, you can type a description of yourself in a word processor and copy and paste it each time. Add personal messages, including why you are interested in their particular ad.

Photos:

People who write to you will often want a photo, so go ahead and have one scanned and made into a JPEG (file will have the extension jpg. A GIF is also acceptable, but may not look as good.) Photo should be flattering but fairly recent. Don't send one taken 15 years ago. If you don't have a flattering photo, get one.

Some photo labs can make JPEGs and provide them on floppy disk or CD Roms. For best quality, have photos scanned into a higher resolution electronic format and then edit them in PhotoShop, PhotoDeluxe, PaintShop Pro, or a similar software. Hi-res formats are available from on photo CD, for instance, or Seattle Filmworks (www.filmworks.com, on diskette or email).

Also, I can scan photos for a reasonable charge and email the file to you. (ljavins@aol.com)