How to Choose the Perfect Dating Profile Photos
People joke that in dating apps someone is only interested in photos, and that’s partly true. But not only are you judged on a toughness scale – people try to feel you as a person without reading your bio. Photography tells more about your taste, social life and worldview than you think. Here’s what to think about when choosing the perfect picture.
Safety
This post is inspired in part by Reddit user u / DrLawyerPI , who wrote on r / LifeProTips what many people don’t realize – your photos make you easy to find on social media :
Not sure about that new tinder match? A quick search backwards for images will help you figure out who you are talking to. Warning: This is probably not the girl in the photos. Image results can result in nswf.
They worry that someone will steal photos of a model or another person to create a fake dating profile, but this applies to anyone who wants to remain anonymous. A photo that you post somewhere on a public social network? If so, anyone who comes across this could potentially find you and your personal information using a reverse image search.
This is not the case for everyone. Nowadays, many people post their Instagram descriptors on their profiles. However, if this bothers you, make sure your social media accounts are set up as private and use footage from the same footage on a dating app if you really felt like your clothes that day or something. Or use images that aren’t posted anywhere else to be extra careful.
Use photos that really look like you
Posting flattering photos of yourself is not a crime. Angles matter a lot. However, the number of profiles that I see depicting real faces and figures of unknown people is extremely strange. Yes, people can judge the appearance. Maybe you think you’ll put your foot in the door after taking a photo of yourself ten years ago and then win the match with your personality. Trust me, you won’t. You will simply make them angry with your dishonesty.
One thing I’ve discovered through a lot of dating in apps is that there is a huge variety of bodies, faces, and tastes. You want someone to choose you based on who you really are. Don’t discount the fact that there are people you will attract. At the very least, think about how humiliating it is to go out on a date with someone who is completely shocked when they meet you in real life. Place your bets on yourself and choose realistic images in which you still feel cute.
It’s okay to be stupid
On that note, it’s okay if you have one photo of you being a kid, or being silly, or even an image or meme that you like. Not really my type to see SpongeBob when I go through your profile, but for the person you’re looking for it might be. If potential matches are selected primarily based on your photographs, it might be a good idea to try to bring more detail to your personality or sense of humor with images.
At the same time, in my opinion, the ratio here should be at least 1: 4. For each joke image, there should be at least four clear photographs of your real person, and the joke photo should be placed in last place, not first! Anyone with a profile made entirely of sunsets, cartoons, dogs, or blacked-out selfies from storefronts goes straight to the “no” pile. This means that you are either lazy or trying to hide.
Avoid just selfies
You probably think you are taking the best photographs in the world. It may be true, but it’s creepy when all of the photos of someone are taken by them in the bathroom or in the car. It looks like you are not doing anything and you have no friends. I suppose both of these things may be true, but if you don’t get matches, your selfie-only profile may be to blame.
Take some combat shots there; show yourself to friends and to the world. If that’s not possible, you may need to develop your social life outside of dating before creating this Tinder profile. Also, be careful going in the opposite direction – if all of your photos are in a crowd, it’s pretty hard to tell who I’m looking at! Nobody wants to play Where’s Waldo on Bumble for someone they’ve never seen.
Not everything for everyone
Discussing photos on a dating app always leads to heated discussion. People are attracted to different things, and some photos will always turn someone off. For example, several Lifehacker employees told me that they always reject men who post shirtless photos. Personally, I like the preview. But I agreed that any photograph of a person holding a dead fish is a difficult pass.
The clarity of who you are is the most important thing; like speaks to like. Someone out there wants to see this animal that you killed on the boat, so share it if it matters to you; by pretending that it is not, you will only get coincidences with which you have nothing to do. And please take at least one photo in which you are not wearing sunglasses.