New Year, new me! – A saying that I’m officially changing this year to – New Year, same me but more self-aware because A) you don’t have to become a “new” person every year and b) 2020 has left us with more time to self-reflect than ever before, therefore; I feel the phrase adjustment is more than appropriate.
Every year for the last two, Plenty of Fish, has filmed a series called Dine & Dish where our two fabulous hosts and married duo, Jared Haibon and Ashley Iaconetti Haibon critique real Plenty of Fish profiles and provide advice to members on how they can showcase their best selves on their dating profiles. Today, I have compiled all the dating advice from episodes past to supply you with a guide to sprucing up your dating profile before the New Year.
Tip Number 1: Audit your images and for the love of god, don’t get caught Waldo-ing!
Refreshing your photos every 3-6 months is important to keep your dating profile fresh! Think about what you would love to see on someone else’s profile and apply it to your own. For example – don’t you want to see what hobbies they enjoy, or maybe you want to see where they’ve travelled in the past – start to post photos of yourself that show your interests! Maybe you’re a huge fan of chess now after watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, then add a photo of you playing chess.
When you’re uploading photos, if you can reply “YES” to the following questions, you should be golden:
- Is my face visible?
- Does it show my personality?
- Is the photo hi-resolution?
- Am I easy to identify in the photo?
Tip Number 2: Get specific when listing out your hobbies and interests
When scrolling through dating profiles, it’s almost guaranteed that I’ll come across this sentence in most profiles – “I like movies, tv, music.” Those interests are great, but it doesn’t say a lot about you. Here’s how to rewrite the sentence while adding more personality and information to it!
“My favorite movie is The Devil Wears Prada because I love Meryl (is there a better actor? I challenge you to name one), I just binged The Crown on Netflix and my go-to playlist on Spotify is “Jazz Background” when I’m working, because it helps me focus”
There is a massive difference between the sentence above and the simple and very generic “I like movies, tv, and music.”
Tip Number 3: State your honest relationship intent on your profile
This is a dating myth I’d just like to debunk right now – “Always act “cool” and don’t show how interested you are in them.” Remove that idea altogether because it’s extremely outdated. If you’re looking for something serious or long term, state that in your profile. The beauty of the Plenty of Fish profile, is you can choose from five different options of relationship intent ranging from casual dating to finding someone to marry.
Being upfront about what you’re looking for in a relationship is the right thing to do because then you eliminate the guessing game altogether of whether or not you’re looking for the same thing.
Tip Number 4: Spell check, spell check, spell check
It is without fail when we film Dine & Dish, we will always come across poor grammar on profiles. I totally understand spelling and grammar isn’t something we are interesting in perfecting, but it’s important to pay attention to it when you’re trying to make a great first impression. My suggestion is to always have someone besides yourself review your profile for you, whether that be a friend or a site like Grammarly.
Tip Number 5: Have fun with it and be true to yourself
Dating doesn’t have to feel like a chore! Have fun with your profile and most importantly fill it out in a way that is most authentic to you. Remove exaggerations or things that you think others want to see or hear. If you’re worried that your interest seems too niche or specific, we have data that proves singles who add their niche interests to their profiles have a higher success rate than those who list more common interests like movies, tv, and music.
When we surveyed singles in 2019, 84% of them said they would much rather have someone be honest online than paint a more positive picture of themselves.
So there you have it, the experts guide to sprucing up your dating profile for the new year ahead.
Cover photo by Spencer Imbrock on Unsplash
