"a lot to offer"

[tiredofvampires]

I guess for me, it's not so much the details and specifics, but how you're talking about them.

 

The profiles that really have grabbed my attention usually were a good balance of a few specifics, but served up in a form where I felt like I was seeing the world through their eyes a bit; where I could sense their individual personality and style. Like, a touch of humor about a favorite thing, a tidbit of random commentary that gave me a glimpse into their POV. Profiles like that don't necessarily go into details, but they give a sort of larger impression of what this person feels like to me. These profiles tend to minimize lists -- of traits, of favorite things -- and rely more on a kind of overview about how they see life, with attention paid to how that's communicated.

 

To give an example from my own profile (which I've tweaked at least a dozen time, I'm guessing, over 5 years, even though I'm not trying to date now, and do not enjoy describing myself -- I would rather people not get preconceived notions about me, rather make up their own minds; and it's just very hard to decide what best represents yourself without boxing yourself in) -- I say, "I'm drawn to those who have gone through some sort of personal challenge and come out better men for it." Well, most people have gone through personal challenges, so that's still generic in a way. Many people could apply for that and get the "job." But it says something about me, what I value. It doesn't go into how I grew up emotionally and physically abused, or many of the current problems I now am facing, but it presents a value system specific enough that it will attract people with a certain way of viewing life, and probably turn off/scare others. In the ways that suit my needs and who I'm sieving out.

 

So there is a way to be both general and yet not non-descript at the same time.

 

Of course, to each their own. If a guy wrote, "I have a lot to offer" in the context of a profile that filled in some glimpses about his unique personality, it'd be okay, because it would be more like an encapsulation of the other stuff. But I take it that the OP is talking about a profile where that's a main selling point without any other real meat on the bones.

 

In creative writing class, the golden rule is always, "show, don't tell." Don't tell us, "It was a beautiful day." Describe the day. Say, "Leaves were shimming in the sunlit wind, and every creature seemed reborn after the rains." I guess that's the way I am drawn to profiles -- don't tell me who you are, show me who you are. Don't tell me, "I like South Park". Quote Eric Cartman to make a point about something you're saying. That's what shows me -- I feel that a personality is as much how things are presented as what is being presented.

 

It's the entire profile's vibe that ultimately draws me or makes me go 'meh', not one statement in a vacuum; but that one (the title of the thread) with not much else would require a LOT of other good vibes making up for it.

[Sportster2005]

It means the same as "I am comfortable in jeans or a little black dress", or "Must love dogs". And those things mean they don't have a clue on how to write a profile so they fill it up with the usual cliches. He's not arrogant or broken, or whatever. He's just like 90% of the people online with dull poorly written garbage profiles.