Ah this old chest-nut again. Whilst I wouldnt seriously advocate online dating as a means of finding and establishing meaningful relationships or to practice 'game', if you must do it then a few ground rules (common sense):

1) To avoid getting the reputation of being abit of a 'tubby chaser' then only message girls who show body pics as well as 'mug-shots'. Classic example I remember Picard on here messaging a girl who posted only head-shots and from the neck up she looked deceptively fit. To his horror he found this was far from the truth.

If need be, ask to see a body shot, don't regard this as 'shallow' you want to see what goods are on offer, afterall you wouldn't buy a car from an online auction after only seeing a picture of one of it's tyres!

Also ask if the pictures are recent.

2) Odds are heavily stacked against you. With the average dating site typically consisting of 4 guys to every girl you are entering one cock-fest of a 'party'. The girls get free reign over the guys, above average looking girls can get hundreds of emails a day! so you have your work cut-out to really stand out, grab and maintain attention. You can bet your life you are not the only guy she is messaging even if you do find yourself exchanging a ping-pong of messages.

Walking upto a women in a bar, one on one, conversing and having her attention in that moment....those are odds much better stacked in your favor!!

3) As mentioned already, typically you find some fucked up girls on these sites, alot also just like to have their egos massaged and get-off on recieving constant daily emails by pathetic men pandering to them. Do you seriously want to meet a women who thrives on this kind of enjoyment?....didn't think so.

4) If you are completely new to all this then I wouldnt completely rule out internet dating to get you started. Don't do it to 'Neg' girls on line, or practice game in text form within an online arena as this will get you nowhere. Do it to genuinely just to meet up with people for dates, and to practice interacting with a women in front of you in what is for many guys (me included at times) a pressured situation.

I don't mean use people just for practice. Interact only with people you genuinely are interested in getting to know, ask them out with absolutely no agenda or strings attached other than to make potential friends (if things develop further then great). But I guess what im trying to say is only use it as a tool for learning (if need be) how to interact normally with new people/strangers with whom you have a genuine interest.

Do not use online dating just to practice routines or lines because you will only be regarded as 'wierd'.