Why You Should Let Someone Else Choose Your Profile Pictures
You might really like that photo of you squinting your eyes and making a pouty face, but chances are that what you like doesn’t look so good to others. Recent research shows that you are better off having someone else choose your profile pictures.
In a study conducted by the University of New South Wales and published in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications , participants took profile pictures for use on social media, professional networking sites, and dating sites. They were then asked to choose which one they would be most or less likely to use and rated each photo for attractiveness, reliability, dominance, competence, and confidence. The participants then had to do the same with another set of images belonging to the stranger.
The researchers found that images chosen by strangers made a much better first impression than images chosen by people themselves. David White, lead author of the study, suggests this is because we tend to favor images of ourselves that emphasize physical attractiveness. This is good in some situations, but it is not always the most important quality people are looking for. It’s better to look competent and confident on sites like LinkedIn, for example, and looking trustworthy on a dating site can be better than looking attractive. White says that people are good at picking up these subtleties in other people’s faces, but we are not so good at doing it with ours.
Of course, this study was done with complete strangers, not friends, so they’re not sure how effective those closest to you can be at choosing the best profile picture. However, it doesn’t hurt to have at least a second opinion on your chosen photos. You probably can’t trust yourself to see anything other than how attractive you look. However, if there is no one around to help you, you can always try to “squint” your eyes and use open body language .