If you’ve ever online dated, you know how important your picture can be in attracting people to view your profile and in initiating contact. OkCupid recently did a study of over 7,000 of their subscribers to determine what attracted men and women to certain photos, which ones got the most and least responses, and dispelled a few common myths that online daters have.
You are welcome to read the details of the study yourself, but in summary, they found some interesting bits of information:
1. Contrary to popular opinion (including my own), women DO like men to be shirtless, but it comes with an age limit. If the guy is older than 31, they get far fewer responses than the 18-year olds. Also, men with nicer abs get more responses than those with less hard bodies. But overall, if you are young and fit, girls like you to show it off online.
2. Men prefer women who smile in their photos, while women prefer men who aren’t smiling in their photos, and even looking away from the camera. (Maybe because we tend to be drawn to the mysterious types??) Although both seem turned off by people who pose with a “flirty face” and aren’t looking at the camera.
3. The “MySpace” photo shot is the most effective photo a woman can use…this is where the picture is shot from an angle above the woman, so the viewer is looking down on her. It seems to make sense that this is because men can get a better look at cleavage, but according to OkCupid’s study, there was no more response to cleavage shots than to women who didn’t show cleavage in these types of photos. Does this mean that guys want to feel taller than their dates perhaps?
4. A picture of a woman “doing something interesting” like playing guitar, rock climbing, etc. seems to lead to more messages in their inboxes than just a sexy shot. In fact, this seems to be what leads to longer email conversations according to OkCupid. Pictures that are conversation starters are more effective than sexy shots for men.
Some things to think about, in case you want to re-do your profile pictures. Really interesting and surprising stuff.
About Kelly Seal
Kelly is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA. She blogs about dating, relationships, personal growth and what "healthy living" means to her. You can follow her on Google+, Twitter @kellyseal or through her website www.kellyseal.com.
Hey, nice post. I don’t agree with the shirtless one though – doesn’t that come across as terribly vain? And without wanting to be spammy, I did a post on ‘rules for girls when online dating’ myself…check it out.
http://plentymorefishoutofwater.blogspot.com/2009/11/online-dating-rules-for-girls.html
Interesting results. The “MySpace shot” does not scream creative to me, though. Seems very juvenile even. Haha
Ha! Yes, I’m not a big fan of shirtless photos…I never responded to guys who posted those. But I guess most of my gender kinda likes it, at least the 22-year olds on OkCupid. I bet if we did a comparison to eHarmony or Match, we might see different results. I like your post btw Fishy, very true…but you forgot to mention no pics with your cats/ dogs.
As for the MySpace shot, I thought that was weird too. What does it mean that guys like it??