Profile Picture
A Thousand Words....
Pictures simply enable people to form a far clearer image of who you really are, and genuinely do say more about you than words can ever do.
Now, the best news is that most people involved in the online dating scene are not really going to expect someone with movie star beauty.
In fact, being too beautiful or handsome might even be a negative, if people do not really believe that the picture is really you. Mind you, you should do everything that you can to look your best too.
Look well groomed, neat, tidy and clean, and you enhance your chances of success immeasurably! Now, it might sound crazy that anyone would ever use someone else's picture, but it does happen! In fact, on some sites (e.g. MySpace) it is quite a common practice for people to use pictures that are not them at all, so it really does happen!
Basically, never attempt to appear to be something that you are not with the picture that you use any more than you would do so in words. Remember that untruths will always be found out, whether it be false words or images. Don't dress in the latest skiing fashions if you don't ski!
Don't wear a racing driver's fireproof overalls in a somewhat sad attempt to appear 'interesting', if you have never driven a race car in your life, and so on. So, with this proviso in mind, collect together (or have taken) some attractive pictures of you and sift through them, to come up with those that:
• Show you happy or smiling. Perhaps show you doing things that you enjoy.
• Maybe show you with friends and family, having fun.
• Show you being natural, rather than posing for the camera.
Don't let the picture thing become a big problem for you. Remember that people are not looking for perfection, and, in fact, may even be turned off or intimidated by it! Just use the pictures that show you at your natural best, and that should give the viewer the clearest 'picture' of who you really are.
Pictures that show you involved in an interesting activity will certainly help. It makes you a more rounded character, one with interests that are perhaps outside the norm. If you genuinely are a champion skier or a race car driver, then go ahead and include those kinds of pictures, although you need to be careful that they don't make you seem somehow pretentious or arrogant.
Make sure that all of the pictures you use are clear and easy on the eyes, with the ones that you most want people to see prominently to the fore. Your profile pictures are another small element of the whole 'you' that goes to generate the first impression that anyone who views your profile will form. So, you do need to be very clear on what the pictures should show to the viewer as well as what they should not!
Be careful that the pictures could not be construed in a negative fashion, and remember that humor does not always translate. Giving your friends a rude gesture whilst on holiday may have been funny at the time, and maybe there is that 'side' to your character, but don't use it! Pictures like these are not generally attractive.
Keep sad circumstances and situations out of any pictures that you choose to use. Try to include some pictures of you alone, rather than just those of you with your friends and family. If you always include someone else, it could suggest that you might be too busy for any serious relationship, and perhaps also that you always need other people around you as support (perhaps implying weakness?).
Forget the sexy or suggestive poses. They will not attract many people, and those that they do attract will probably not be the sort of people that you really want to meet and date with. Embarrassing or supposedly funny pictures are a no-no, as suggested above.
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