How many messages should you swap before you meet for a date in the real world? Your date gets up from the table; you check your phone. "I'm sure everyone does it, but you shouldn't do it. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."Texting after the date: How soon is too soon?Rule number one: Do not wear a thong to the doctor’s office. No matter how loud your mother’s voice is screaming at you to wear your clean, pretty underwear in case you get hit by a car, or washed down a river. When I called to schedule the appointment, they told me to wear comfortable clothes. So, here I am waiting on the second floor of Building 300. But we'll get to that.) And some less obvious questions of online romantic etiquette (When should you move offline?)For tips this Valentine's season, CBS News reached out to Emma Tessler, cofounder of the digital matchmaking company Dating Ring, which was created, she said, "to make the online dating experience a little bit less terrible." The profile: Be brief, honest and keep your clothes on."People write way too much," Tessler says of online daters filling out profiles on sites like Ok Cupid. Nobody wants to read that much about you before they've met you."It's trite but true: Be yourself. Like, 'Every Friday night I could be watching Netflix or going out.' Everybody does that. Say something unique."When picking profile photos, avoid an overabundance of confusing group shots.After all, while it’s imperative that you don’t settle, it’s equally imperative that you give someone else a chance—just as you’d hope others would do for you in return.

“Relegating a date to the same method you use to get low bank balances is insulting. I hear a lot of younger people using Facebook to do what they should be doing in person when it comes to romance and dating.” The idea is to use the different ways to reach out as a starting point, but definitely don’t use it as the only way to reach out. If you’re comfortable enough with adding a new date to your personal networking sites, then more power to you.After all, I was going to be spending the day getting poked and prodded and zapped with electric currents. I walk toward the voice and nearly run straight into the technician. Here’s the thing about being 28 and going through all this medical hoopla. But being the optimistic girl that I am, I had to look somewhat good. Doctors are no longer these older mythical figures. When meeting face-to-face, April Masini, a relationship and dating advice columnist and author, suggests a rendezvous point.“Meet him somewhere until you get to know him better,” Masini says.So whether you’re new to the dating scene or are more of a seasoned dater, it’s important to live by (and date by) these seven essential rules.One key rule when it comes to dating is to create more opportunities to meet more potential people.