While there are so many great questions to ask a new match when dating online, there are quite a few that you should avoid. And these questions should also be avoided when it comes to a first date. Down the line, yes, these almost all will be important questions (with a few exceptions). However, they’re not great for someone you’re just meeting.

• Tell me about your last relationship/your ex.
• How much money do you make?
• Anything about politics. (The one exception here is if politics is just that incredibly important and critical to your life where you can’t spend a minute with someone who doesn’t share the same views as you. Additionally, if politics is a deal breaker, you might as well find out if things are a match or not.)
• Anything overtly sexual. (The exception here is if you met on the pretenses of a casual and physical relationship. If that wasn’t directly discussed online, though, keep it PG.)
• Where do you live? (Some people aren’t comfortable with this information early on, and you probably shouldn’t be either for safety reasons. A better question to ask is “What side of town do you live on?”)
• What did you like about me? What made you want to go on a date with me? (These sound like you’re fishing for a compliment and make you sound unconfident. They’re very unattractive questions to ask.)
• What kind of guys/girls do you typically date? (There’s just not a whole lot of good that can come out of this question.)
• Questions with no substance that you don’t really care about the answer to. For example, what’s your favorite color? While you’ll probably learn this down the road if you date this person, is that really critical to your first date or seeing if you want to go out with them? It’s the equivalent of talking about the weather (unless there is something out of the ordinary going on.)

What happens if my date or match asks me these questions?

It’s up to you how you react to that. Some people haven’t had the privilege of reading this guide and just might not know better. Always remember that you can politely decline answering and questions you don’t want to. Easy responses include:

• We can probably talk about that later if we see each other a few more times.
• I usually like to wait until later to talk about that topic.
• I’m not really comfortable talking about that just yet.