Take it slow is good advice. I gather my alpha spent 10 years searching before she found me and, even then, we spent our first 6 months fighting like cat & dog before she finally surrendered and flew over here to England to live with me.
All I will say is that on-line is different to R/L and tends to attract more wannabes and players than real Ones. I think maybe the best way to use places like this as a learning tool is simply to talk to other submissives and learn from their experiences ... and their mistakes.
Good luck!