In a traditional dating world people get setup by friends or meet people in social environments.
This allows each party to trust their friends or actually meet the other person before romantic interests develop.
Online dating profiles need to imply trust and honesty.
With online dating you are trusting the other party instead of your friends or your instincts.
Online profiles flatter the person creating them.
Honesty and biographical details are at the discretion of the writer.
Pictures are notoriously old and not representative of what the person really is.
People seem to get unrealistic expectations from reading profiles.
They come away with "this is the girl or guy" for me.
They know nothing about them, but are already emotionally involved.
Then your email is not returned.
It is often your first reaction that they are not attracted to you.
This is not a healthy way to look at things.
There are many reasons why emails are not returned and it is usually not what you think.
Profiles are autobiographies where you choose your own artwork.
They are a mirror of how you view yourself - not how you seem to others.
Realize this when reading profiles and look at pictures.
You can get a general idea of what a person is about but not a true vision of the person.
Profiles with rants and raves I will ignore, no matter what they look like.
Otherwise give it a shot.
Don't be overly selective choosing profiles to respond to.
There are miles to go before you meet them - don't limit your options.
There are some red flags in posting and looking at pictures.
When selecting your photos include:
- A head shot (without a hat)
- A full body shot.
You are what you are, don't be ashamed. - No kids.
I'll crop my kid out of a good photo and not include them. - Smile
- No phone pictures - they look bad and distort your features.
They also show laziness. - Please wear clothes.
Shirtless guys and skimpy clad girls say too much up front.
Captions are good for dating pictures.
Use nothing more than 3 years old.
You will look younger and sabotage your other pictures.
Lies are bad for business.
Your age will be discovered sooner or later.
Many people think they look younger than they are - some do - many don't.
Let your pictures and profile speak for themselves.
Research has shown that milestone birthdays (40, 50 & 60) have many more users saying they are younger.
Some claim this is for searches, but this never works.
First you are letting other people search for you where you should be searching for others.
Second, when they find out it will not go well and possibly end a relationship.