This list was made in collaboration with around 40 participating collegiate men in several group chats. The comments with the most “likes” were re-worded and listed below. These are four common mistakes made for pictures, and four mistakes women make in their descriptions.
1. Only close-up selfies.
The purpose of the pictures in a profile are to give us two things: an idea of your interests, and of what you want me to see. If you want me to see nothing but pictures taken 6 to 12 inches away from your face, I’m going to assume you don’t want me to see the rest of you. Giving the impression you have something you’re hiding is a poor choice, and will only end in mutual disappointment.
2. Only one picture.
As said in the last bullet point, the goal of a profile is for me to get to know you. If your profile only has one photo, it’s a bit difficult for me to understand both who you are and what you are like. Most often, girls I’ve seen that do this are also using only a close-up selfie described in the last point, which together make for an almost guaranteed left-swipe.
3. Animal snapchat filters.
It’s just hiding your face. It’s no longer funny. The dog filter has run its course. I’m sorry.
4. Only group pics with the same women.
How am I supposed to know which is you? If you must spend part of your description telling me which person is you, you should already know you’ve made a mistake in your picture selection. It should be obvious whose profile it is! Even if by process of elimination I could find the common girl between all the photos, you’ve made finding out who you are a chore that you assume people are going to bother trying to solve.
Description Sins.
For this section, I’d rather take some direct quotes from profile that I saw in just this last session of using Tinder that I’ve seen many variations of over the past three years.
1. “I have a boyfriend in the navy, so don’t even try.”
That might have worked in the old days, but we have Bumble BFF and Tinder Social now. If you didn’t want more than that, I shouldn’t be able to see your profile.
2. “I probably just swiped right for your dog.”
Sure, maybe it’s funny to your friends. But do you really want to start off by insulting the guy you’re interested in? This is a huge turn off.
3. “I’m actually 18, idk why it says I’m 22.”
Because you lied about your age on Facebook. Fix it. Here, I’ll even link you to an article on how-to so you can no longer use ignorance as an excuse.
4. “I don’t even know why I’m here. My friends made me do this.”
We both know why you’re here.