Isn’t the internet great? Not only can you keep in touch with your friends, check the weather, and read the news all with the click of a button, you can also flirt with menfolk with less embarrassment! That being said, there are far too many people out there who don’t understand the complexities of e-flirting, and this often translates into bizarre miscommunications and budding romances that end before they really began. Want to increase your chances of wooing him in just a few keystrokes? Use these tips to guide you when writing an email or talking via instant messenger:
Tone down the emoticons and acronyms. I don’t know about you, but I am ROTFLAILAAPOARCK 
(Rolling On The Floor Laughing As I Look At A Picture Of A Really Cute Kitten, and it makes me smile). There are very few people in this world who are well-versed in all popularly used internet acronyms, and most of them are 13 years old. With the exception of “LOL” (Laughing Out Loud) and “JK” (Just Kidding), most people will have no idea what you are talking about if you use acronyms, so spell out what you want to say instead. And limit yourself to only a few emoticons (smiley faces and their ilk) per conversation-- too many is creepy.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE STOP USING ALL CAPS. It’s a mistake most often made by internet newbies, but there’s really no excuse for using all caps. It’s the equivalent of “yelling” in normal interactions, and it’s really, really annoying (not to mention difficult to read). It may be appropriate to use all caps once in a while for emphasis, or to express that you are yelling, but really, this is just something that’s better left avoided all together. Using all lower case, on the other hand, is perfectly acceptable when it comes to instant messenger (although on emails it makes you look lazy). Lower case doesn’t mean that you’re whispering; it acknowledges that the rules of written English are far more lax when you’re quickly IM-ing back and forth.
Less communication = better. When it comes to both verbal and written communication, less is more. People pay more attention to the words of a strong and silent type than they do to the town chatterbox. If you’re constantly IM-ing, emailing, and texting your man, he’s going to feel like he’s being stalked. In contrast, playing “hard to get” works just as well online as it does off line. And forget about forwarding jokes and inspirational stories that your great Aunt Jo sent you: they’ll go straight into his spam filter, as will the rest of your messages.
Take your time. The best thing about flirting via computer is that you have an extended reaction time that is just not possible with face-to-face interactions. Take advantage of it! Choose your words carefully to avoid misunderstandings due to lack of clarity. Spell-check and grammar-check, so that you don’t look sloppy. And absolutely no sarcasm-- it translates poorly onto the screen, and you could run into terrible confusion if you say something in jest that is taken completely out of context.
Don’t fake it. The biggest mistake people make when flirting online is projecting a persona that is out of character with their “real” personality. Unless you are conversing with someone with whom there is no chance you will ever (and I mean ever) meet in person, you risk discrediting yourself when you use a facade that you can’t hold up in real life. Avoid this problem altogether by being yourself-- albeit you on your best day. In other words, you can finesse your spelling and word usage, but don’t lie about owning a Fortune 500 company or be overly confident when in reality you are a shy grade school teacher. Your white lie will come back to haunt you, I promise.
