The other day a friend of mine had a baby, this baby was born into a world of technology, of web 2.0… a digital age. And fittingly they already had a Facebook page waiting for them. That’s right, the baby’s Facebook profile predated them, and unless they delete it or Facebook dies before they do, it’s very possible that they’ll live out their entire lives on the website.

To an extent many of us already do, granted some more than others. And while some use it simply to check out photos and spy on old friends, others use it to promote political agendas and yes, even pull.

Facebook has you see been cleverly designed to make talking to girls easier, which no doubt is part of its design. While the slightly older of you may remember ‘Face Party’ (woah that’s old) which was in fact all about pulling, Facebook is actually more efficient for it.

In real life you wouldn’t ask someone out unless you knew them, and that is why Face Party (just found out my eight year old account was deleted – how rude!) and dating sites are flawed and doomed to failure. Only someone desperate would consider a photo to be enough evidence of a perfect match right?

Facebook however is designed in order to help you stay in touch with people you already know, but not necessarily that well. Old school friends who you used to have a crush on, girls you met at parties, old flames, friends of friends… these are all potential areas for pulling. And if you do meet a girl you like in a club all you need to know is her name (unless it’s Catherine Smith) and you can find her the next day – no need to ask for her number either!

So once Facebook has provided you with someone to flirt with, what next? Well that’s where the handy ‘poke’ button comes in, which is about the most blatant way of telling someone you’re interested in the world, but at the same time it has no risk factor. Perfect. If you get a poke back things are looking pretty good and maybe it’s time for a harmless wall post?

From wall posting you can try and generate a conversation, if it seems to flow well then you’re in luck but if it finished early you can always try someone else. If she likes you, chances are she’ll be trying to keep the conversation going. Ask a question at the end of every message and reply only if she asks questions in hers (if she doesn’t you’re just badgering her now…).

If the conversation is going well though a time will come when you’ve grafitied her wall a bit much and the world will start to look suspicious. At this point you can change to a private message with the excuse that you didn’t want to write too much all over her wall. Extend the size of these and start getting the conversation a bit more intimate and personal (this will be all be occurring over a fairly long period but chances are she’s worth it). This way you can learn more about her and try to impress her with your wit and charm.

It also doesn’t hurt to check out her profile, look through her photos and read her notes. It might feel a bit stalker-ish (Facebook stalking actually has it’s own name: Falking), but to be honest it’s just good sense. You wouldn’t sit an exam without revising, why should this be any different? You’re just tipping the odds in your favour.

Doing so will enable you to find things you have in common and things to talk about in your messages. This can get a great conversation going that can even ‘spill out’ into the real world if you think you can use it as an excuse to text her (if you have her number). You can also use this information more tactically. I once went on date with a girl and read in advance that she wanted to be a teacher in one of her notes. Then seemingly randomly I dropped the comment that I thought she seemed like she’d make a great teacher ‘I don’t know what it is, there’s just something about you…’. Brownie points abound! Sure it’s underhanded, but all’s fair in love and war! As it happened I felt extremely ill on that date and it didn’t end well but that’s history! Another reason to research your future romance however is that you might find your just not suited, perhaps you have nothing in common, or you have extremely opposing political views? Maybe she can only date Jewish men, or maybe she only likes guys ten years older? Maybe she once killed a dog. Doing the research now can hopefully prevent heartache further down the line.

If it’s all going well though and you seem to be hitting it off, now you can find an excuse to take her out. Maybe test the water by mentioning a film she might like to see, if she’s enjoyed the conversation she’ll make it clear she wants to go and you can make it an unofficial date. Alternatively you can invite her to a party you’re having or a night out, either through the messaging or by creating an event on Facebook and inviting her that way (this is also less obvious and formal). If you want to be underhanded again you can see what events she’s planning and ‘just so happen’ to show up there. She’s bound to start talking to you after your long conversation and you’ll have loads to talk about, now just offer to buy her a drink!

If your unofficial date goes well you can even give her a Facebook gift the next day. And who knows, in a couple of weeks you might just be changing your relationship status…

Mack LeMouse

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