Ask a room full of people whether or not online dating is safe and they'll divide straight down the middle. There's good reason for this. On the one hand, there are online dating scams and truly creepy people that jeopardize the safety of meeting someone online. On the other, lots of great "normal" people are enjoying online dating and there's very little unsafe about meeting them. In order to minimize the risks and maximize the rewards, most people who enjoy online dating take some basic precautions.

A blog post over at Telling It Like It Is recently provided five tips for making meeting in person a little bit safer. They're common sense tips that are worth posting on your computer so you can remember in the midst of hope that you need to be appropriately cautious. The tips include bringing a cell phone, trusting your instincts and never just assuming that you are safe. Reminding yourself of these things can allow you to enjoy your date without compromising your safety. There is a happy medium in the dating world.