This post is brought to you by Flingster, a popular modern dating app.

If you’re using dating apps or dating sites, you’ll have much more success if you video chat before the first date. Online dating is a familiar process for most people. While millions of users all around the world think that dating sites are working to a certain degree, many users believe these platforms can be improved upon. Allowing users to video chat with each other after they match is just one of many ways modern dating apps are improving their technology.

Instead of creating distance between matches by sticking with profile pictures and text-based chat, free dating sites such as Flingster allow singles to meet face-to-face on video chats via their app. Thanks to their much more lenient policies regarding user behavior and content, users of Flingster are free to explore each other on a video chat before agreeing to meet in real life. 

From fostering better connections to ensuring your own safety, there are plenty of benefits of using the video chat function of a dating app. Below are some of the top reasons why you should video chat before meeting up with your date in real life: 

1. It’s easier to verify someone’s identity

A catfish would have a tough time hiding who they are on a video chat. All dating sites have a scammer problem to some degree – it’s a problem almost every dating app has. However, it’s a lot tougher to pull off a romance scam when video chats are a part of the platform. Sure, people still pretend to be someone else, and identity theft is still a risk. It’s less likely, however, that a scammer can pose as a Brazilian supermodel in financial distress. The people getting scammed are likely users who aren’t utilizing the video chat function of the app.

People don’t just scam for money. Catfish scams are typically done for attention, or out of boredom as well. Different problem, same solution. If you can talk to someone via video chat, you’ll know that they aren’t pretending to be someone else in their photos.

A quick note: depending on the dating website, your profile may or may not include details such as your full name, general location, and age. If someone you’ve matched with starts asking about personal information that’s not listed on your profile, avoid giving direct answers. This could be an attempt to steal your identity. Just like with regular dating sites, dating apps have some scammers mixed in with the genuine users, so it’s best to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior, and remain cognizant of red flags. 

2. Video chat if you aren’t great at expressing yourself through the written word 

Have you ever tried to connect with someone through text or email, only to find yourself littering the messages with emojis just so you don’t sound like you’re insincere or bored to tears? Emojis have their place, but you can only use so many before looking like a total cheeseball. 

Similarly, many people don’t feel they’re great writers, and feel much more confident expressing themselves verbally or on camera. 

That’s why video chats can really help you connect with someone you’ve matched with online. As long as you’re comfortable communicating through video chats in the first place, you’ll find it much easier to express yourself without second-guessing every word. 

Video chats don’t just let you talk more freely; you’ll also be able to learn more about your date. You don’t have to be an expert at reading body language in order to tell whether or not someone likes you. It’s one thing to get a message that says, “Nice meeting you”, but it’s another thing to see the other person actually saying it. 

3. Videos help you stand out among someone’s other options

A great catch might have plenty of matches. A shocking number, actually. Some people don’t have time to engage with all of their matches on a dating app. However, they’re more likely to engage with someone who they can see on video. The videos give a sense of what you’re really like, and that makes you stand out among all the other messages they receive in text form. 

On video, you don’t just get to see how someone looks physically. You also get a sense of their energy, their personality and their overall vibe.

Video chats definitely make you stand out among someone’s other matches. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Just imagine how many words a video chat is worth! 

4. You can have virtual dates without having to meet in person. 

This is where you can get creative. Many people download dating apps to meet singles who live in the city they’re soon moving to, but they haven’t arrived yet. You don’t need to be in the same city to have your first date, though. Virtual dates became popular during the pandemic, and many people find they feel like real dates. Dates don’t just involve being in the same place; they involve doing the same things together, which is easy to do over a webcam. All it takes is a little planning, just like any other date. 

What are the options? Perhaps you could watch the same movie together, but from the comfort of your own homes. Try exchanging lists of your favorite movies – start with the top five. The other person gets to pick from your list and vice versa, and you go through each other’s lists and decide on one.

If one of you really wanted to impress your date, arrangements could be made for flowers and food from a top-rated restaurant to be delivered to them. You could both dress to the nines, light some candles, and eat a meal together while making conversation via video chat. 

5. Take your relationship to the next level via video chat

If due to physical distance, the first month or two of your relationship has to be strictly virtual dates via video chat, know that dating apps like Flingster give you plenty of freedom to get to know each other. One of the most popular functions is the uncensored content that’s allowed via the video chat function of the dating app. This is one of the biggest differences between regular dating sites, and dating apps like Flingster. 

Even though it’s possible for genuine relationships to start online, there’s a certain closeness and intimacy that’s definitely going to take the relationship to the next level. 

If this sounds right up your alley, don’t hesitate in giving one of these more modern dating apps a try.