Your profile pics can make or break the number of matches you get on a dating app. But we've noticed some rather odd trends when it comes to guys' pics. So many of them fall into the same tropes, and to be honest, they're just off-putting.
So here's a not-so-deep dive into the pics that women are sick of seeing on the apps. Are you guilty?
You caught a big fish, and you're justifiably proud. But all we can think about is how your hands smelled like fish in that pic. We don't want fishy hands anywhere near our person. Also, are you going to take us fishing? That could be fun, but not for a first date, please. We don't want fish guts anywhere near our person either.
See "the big fish pic" above, and make it a deer, moose, elk, pheasant, turkey, duck, etc. Ooh, subtract even more points if there's blood and gore.
No. Just no. No guns, no bows and arrows, no swords, no knives, nothing we think you might want to hurt/main/kill with. No
You're leaning against a car. It's a flashy car. Is it your car? Are you at a car show? Who knows, but we're not impressed by your flashy car. We want to be impressed by you. Also, if you don't show up to our date in the car you were posing with, we're going to wonder what else you've been inflating to impress us.
You've tipped your head at a rakish angle and you're peering over the top of your shades, gazing flirtatiously into the camera. Mmm, we kind of see the appeal, but unless you're a sunglass model, we want to know who you were looking at like that when the pic was taken - a friend? Another girl? Yourself? Not us, we know that for sure. Save that sultry gaze for in person.
You've cropped in close to yourself but we can still see her hair next to your face, or her arm around your shoulder, or her handbag on the table in front of you... Short story: We know there was another woman in that pic and you cropped her out. We don't want to be the next woman you crop out of your dating app pic.
Like the flashy car pic above, but you're trying to project "badass" or " rebel". Motorbikes are divisive, because there's a significant population of women who think they can be dangerous and really don't want to meet another bad boy. And do you even own two helmets?
There you are, in full academic regalia, proudly displaying your diploma while the tassel on your graduation cap flutters in the breeze. Congratulations! Do you want us to send you a card with some money in it? We aren't your grandma. Save this pic for your parents' dining room wall.
Look at that good-looking group of friends. Which one are you? We have no idea. We've never met you or these other guys. By the way, do they know you've got their pics on your dating app profile?
Your sunglasses cover your eyes (and we can see the selfie phone reflection in them, classy). You're dressed in a Halloween costume. You're on a ski field wearing a balaclava. You're in full hunting camo. Dude, you've got something on your face, and we can't see what you look like.
You're in your full glory on the ski slope. Showing your amazing form at the driving range. Or you're running a marathon. Maybe you're playing badminton at your family reunion? Whatever sport you're into, we love that you're active, but please pick one where we can see what you look like - not the one where you think you look cool.
Yay, you work out! Not yay, you're that guy we see at the gym taking pics of himself in the mirror! We do not respect or like that guy in our gym, because he gives us the ick.
We do not want to see you off your face with a table full of empties in the foreground. Partying is fine, but this makes you look like you party too much, and that we do not want to be around.
We have lost count of the number of pics we've seen that were taken in bathroom mirrors, with dirty sinks, spotty mirrors, and toilets - sometimes unflushed - on full display in the background. Ewwwww.
You're smiling happily at the camera, your arm around... Your sister? Cousin? Mother? Best female friend? We have no idea who she is and it's weird that she's on your dating app profile. Is she going to be coming on dates with us?
Pics where we can see you, authentic, on your own, dressed normally, being yourself. That's it. It's okay to enlist a friend and have a mini photo shoot. Also, if you have a pet, we absolutely want to see it (just not in every pic). That's about it. Simple, right?
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