In a recent article, Colin Bennet offers the following tips for "mastering the art of online flirting":

• Be generous, but genuine, with compliments. Everyone loves to be adored.

• Be upbeat. No one wants to hear your whining, even online.

• Cute is good. If you can come off as cute in your online interaction, you're more likely to get an online date.

• Keep the use of emoticons to a minimum. They get irritating or can be misread by people who don't know you.

• Short and sweet is the phrase of the day when it comes to online communication. Serious conversations are meant for in-person talks, not your online chat.

Another few tips that I would add from my own experiences are:

• Don't give one-word answers. There's nothing more annoying than trying to have a chat conversation and just getting back a bunch of "lol"s and "hehe"s.

• Represent yourself accurately. This means send pictures that are flattering but do look like you. And make comments that you'd make in real life. Natural really is the way to go.

• Be open to the possibilities that arise. You may think you know exactly what you're looking for but you shouldn't rule out surprises that come up.

• Use a screenname that is cute, not creepy.

What other tips do you follow for online flirting?