Please, for the love of everything, stop using group photos as your first pic on dating apps. I was swiping last night and literally spent two minutes trying to figure out which guy in a pack of six was actually the person I was supposed to be looking at. By the time I figured it out, I was already kind of annoyed, which is a terrible way to start a potential romance, right? Honestly, it’s such a rookie mistake. I get it, you want to show you have friends and a social life, but save that for the fourth or fifth slot.
The best profiles I see are the ones where the main photo is just a clear, solo shot from a recent trip. Tbh, that one photo of you standing in front of a mountain or at some random street market in Mexico is 100x better than a blurry bar photo with three other people. It shows you’re adventurous and gives someone an easy opening line like "Oh, where was that taken?" instead of just "Hey." I used a solo shot from my trip to the PNW last year—just me in a flannel looking at a waterfall—and my match rate went way up compared to when I had that "cool" photo with my brothers.
I’ve been trying to be more intentional about dating lately because I’m tired of the casual cycle. I was actually reading up on relationship dynamics and found this interesting breakdown of
how do affairs start which sounds heavy, but it really made me think about how important it is to be transparent and present from the very beginning. If you can’t even be clear about who you are in your photos, it’s hard to build that foundation of honesty later on. Plus, showing your face clearly just builds immediate trust.
Just keep it simple. Good lighting, a real smile, and no one else in the frame to distract from you. You don't need a professional photoshoot, just a decent phone camera and some natural light. It makes a world of difference when you stop hiding behind your friend group and just own your own look. People want to date you, not your entire social circle at once. Ngl, it feels a bit vulnerable to put yourself out there without the "buffer" of friends, but that's the whole point of these apps anyway. Give it a shot and see how the vibe changes.
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