For many online daters, the idea of dating outside their age range is met with both excitement and apprehension.

Whatever your age, here are 3 tips you should keep in mind about dating someone older or younger than you:

It’s the new year and your online dating profile is looking good. You’re already having some interesting conversations with potential love interests online.

At some point, there’s going to be the first date.

Taking your online conversations to a “real life” first date can be a thing to navigate. Dating sites see a surge in popularity this time of the year, so it’s likely that your first date with someone new may happen soon.

Are you ready to make a good first impression? It’s online dating season, after all – time to give love a shot.

But a relationship must start somewhere. Whether online or in the traditional sense, initial contact may be the most nerve-racking part of dating. What you say can either make or break your chances of finding someone special.

Continuing our series this week of online dating tips for 2017, this post is all about messaging best practices.

Just look at these trends and statistics reported by popular online dating apps:

• From Christmas through Valentine’s Day, Match.com reports a 60 percent spike in new singles joining their network.

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In the late 90s and early 00s, matchmaking sites eHarmony and Match.com dominated the world of online dating. They targeted love-seekers in their 30s and older – charging a membership of “$40 to $60 a month.”

Then Tinder came around in 2012 and turned the membership model on its head. Instead of having users pay a premium for a chance at love, Tinder launched a free app and relied on word of mouth for it to spread. With enough “swipes” later, a trend had begun. Tinder quickly grew a younger audience of daters, from “close-knit communities” to “nine million daily active users” and “one million new users a week,” according to the company.

Increasingly, court cases are using social media to gather evidence. As criminal lawyer Brooke Winter said, “There is no such thing as a private conversation on social media.”

The Tinder Murder Case

You might have already read about the Gable Tostee case. It was a Tinder date gone astray in Australia that ended in death. In 2014, 26-year-old Warriena Wright matched with 28-year-old Gable Tostee on Tinder. The two flirted over text conversations, then met for the first time on August 8, 2014. They met up at a mall and went back to Tostee’s apartment. At 2 a.m., Wright fell 14 stories to her death.