Online Dating Profile Photo RED FLAGS

[shiner501]

Hey guys,

I thought we could start a thread on this subject. There are a few common characteristics that have started to emerge as I look at online profiles that are bad signs. I don't mean this in an arrogant way to traduce these people but these are real world observations I have made from the profile and then meeting them in person. I am a man applying this to women but I suppose the principle is the same the other way round:

 

1. Only one photo on the profile >>> They can only find one photo that looks half decent that by fluke made them look glamorous when they are actually incredibly plain.

2. No photo showing their whole body >>> probably fat

3. Those "blurry" facial glamour shots >>> Bad skin

4. Never show their teeth when smiling >>> Bad teeth

5. Photo only shows their face in close up >>> Fat, even though face might be pretty

6. Photo's of their dog/cat/horse without him/her in it >>> Silly and immature. Questionable priorities.

Also:

7. Nearly always the person is using old photos where they are AT LEAST 20lb lighter in the photo that the person that shows up on the date.

 

These are my first hand experiences so far. And just for the record, I have about 20 photos on my profile from close ups, to me on my bikes, out running, playing golf etc and all of them recent, I do not use any older than a year. Maybe 20 is too many?

[Wiseman2]

Yeah, 20 is too many, pare it down to just the best ones, not a photo album. Agree with the red flags about the photos. Also what about the profile? Plenty more red flags there for example talking about the ex or 'men are jerks', 'no players', 'no drama', etc.

[SooSad33]

Incredibly plain? Wow!

 

I find.. when it's usually one photo.. that person is fake.

 

I had a profile and no photo showed my whole body.. but I am NOT hugely fat. Maybe 15 pounds over. I just dont really have many pics of myself.

Never show their teeth? I smile without many teeth showing.. but I do still have my teeth. Just dont like smiling with them much, is all.

 

One red flag I've found is when they are showing pics from 20 yrs ago.

I caught a guy doing that... and he sent me an actual recent pic via email. Apparently he looked much different.. so I gave him crap for that!

 

Another which is odd, is not saying anything at all on their profile. Why not?

Can't explain yourself?

 

Anyways... we never really know.

 

But, I have heard that facts show... success rate for dating sites is roughly 20%.. soo good luck .

[janut1]

Im a female and red flags for me from men are:

 

1. No shirt photo - big turn off!

2. Older photos - you meet them in person and they look so much older so they are...

3. Lying about their age.

4. Pictures of fish, animals, photos or mountains and hills - why?

5. Not in shape, but say they are active. I workout, exercise, eat healthy...just be honest, you like beer and hamburgers

6. Pictures of the kids, grandkids, etc without them being in the photo

7. Bathroom selfies

8. Kissy face selfies

9. Oh and the latest, a man I chatted with had a photo where he was sitting with two women. I asked who those women were, and he said oh, thats my X girlfriend and her cousin. Really? LOL

 

So it goes both ways. I say its a crap shoot. Women are not the only ones putting up photos that are not current. Women also get the dic* picks, those are always fun. You talk to a guy a couple of times, feel safe enough to give them your cell number and Surprise!!

[mfan]

OP, I agree with your observations, but please don't post 20 photos! Just be normal. Post 3 or 4 photos so people can see what you look like; that's all they're for. Probably some viewers are like "20 photos - red flag >>> he's obsessed with his appearance" or some such.

 

Another one is: If the photo contains more than one person, assume they're the ugliest person in the photo.

[limichelle]

For me red flags were

 

-Bathroom selfies with shirt off!

- In a large group of friends or in a large group of females

- Drinking pictures

- Looking wasted or high

 

Some people are up front and ask for a fling right off the back so I would block them. Then there were the sly ones who got you hooked and then BAM nudes!

 

So yeah online dating is a crap shoot.

 

I know though that if you keep at it there will be that one somebody.

 

The guy I have been talking too and going to meet came out if nowhere with two pictures one full body shot and another on his horse. I was instantly taken with him.

 

 

Lisa

[FlashEng1]

 

So it goes both ways. I say its a crap shoot. Women are not the only ones putting up photos that are not current. Women also get the dic* picks, those are always fun. You talk to a guy a couple of times, feel safe enough to give them your cell number and Surprise!!

 

I hear this ALL THE TIME online!!! Geeze, it MUST be working if guys continue to send them over and over, right!?!? Only once in my life --and it was last week!-- did I hangout with a girl who was showing me pictures she had taken, and came across her ex's d**k pic, and closed it out fast. She was the first person to tell me she actually *LIKES* getting those kind of pics!! I've had a couple of requests from OLD about it, but figured they were trolls ready to blast me all over some amateur porn site or something, so just blocked them.

 

Anyway, I also have 1 picture in my profile because I disabled my others. I just didn't like them for the season. Still get the same results. When it comes to OLD Pictures, I agree with the other points made, and add that a huge red flag for me is an empty profile, or one with "Ask." or "......." in it. If you aren't serious enough to take the time to put in even a simple paragraph about yourself or what you're looking for, you probably aren't serious enough with other "priorities" in your life as well. Or you're taking it more casually than I'd like to. Or you're vain.

[missmarple]

To all the other red flags, I'm going to add a/ pics wearing dark sunglasses (if I can't see your eyes, what's the point) and b/pics taken from a distance (you either have something to hide looks-wise or you don't want people to recognize you).

[mfan]

I expect to see certain types of photos included in a user's profile or else I immediately form negative conclusions:

 

Toilet not visible in any of the photos - red flag - the person doesn't have a bathroom

No photos of flowers or landscapes - red flag - the person doesn't know how to use Google Image Search

No selfies - red flag - the person is so poor he/she doesn't own a camera

No p*nis pics (in a man's profile) - red flag - the man has a really small p*nis, or no p*nis

No pictures with children in them - red flag - the person may be forbidden by law to be near children

No bare-chest photos - red flag - the person had quadruple bypass surgery and doesn't want you to see his/her scar.

[shiner501]

Thanks for your tips guys. Maybe 20 is too many then! I thought I was being honest and showing me in a variety of interests. Match.com allows you five "main" photos where they are more head and shoulders and a "album" that allows you to show other pictures. So I have 5 "main" photos and 13 "album" ones. The album ones are all with my bikes, playing soccer, golf, mountaineering etc. I did this to show I have interests and hobbies and I'm not just a dude who sits at home. What do you reckon? Should I par back to just the 5 main ones? Or fewer even? I read a theory once that says showing too many photos on your profile works against you in online dating but that seems odd to me. But then, What do I know!!!!!

 

Agreed about having sunglasses on so you cant see the person!

[john45]

I guess the only red flag for me is a photo or set of photos that are clearly many years old. My main red flag isn't the photo, but whether someone can string a sentence or few that are interesting in their profile.

[Sportster2005]

Thanks for your tips guys. Maybe 20 is too many then! I thought I was being honest and showing me in a variety of interests. Match.com allows you five "main" photos where they are more head and shoulders and a "album" that allows you to show other pictures. So I have 5 "main" photos and 13 "album" ones. The album ones are all with my bikes, playing soccer, golf, mountaineering etc. I did this to show I have interests and hobbies and I'm not just a dude who sits at home. What do you reckon? Should I par back to just the 5 main ones? Or fewer even? I read a theory once that says showing too many photos on your profile works against you in online dating but that seems odd to me. But then, What do I know!!!!!

 

Agreed about having sunglasses on so you cant see the person!

 

I think 20 is fine if they are varied. I don't agree that having lots of photos is bad, for any reason.

[happpybear]

I actually like seeing pics of guys holding fish lol. I like outdoorsey types. I agree with most of the other red flags. I will add that I really disliked pics were the guy was clearly posing, usually they were selfies, but sometimes not. Also if he didn't smile at all in any pics. Or there were several pics--all selfies--clearly taken at the same time showing different facial angles and standing in front of a full length mirror for full body shot selfie. Just really weird to do that IMO.

 

What I liked about my bf's pics was that none were selfies, and he was doing stuff in the pics, and he was smiling or laughing in all of them.

 

As for having 20 pics, I prob wouldn't look at them all. just look at the first few to see if I found them attractive.

[superfan]

It's been a while since I was doing online dating, but some of the types of pics I hated were:

 

Shirtless pics. I don't know what the fascination is with dudes wanting to "show off the guns" but I think it makes you look arrogant.

 

Drunk/high pics. Not interested

 

Pics with an ex or so many people I can't tell which one you are

 

Pics where you are blurry and/or not full body shots (goes both ways)

 

Pics clearly taken with your webcam in a dimly lit room in front of your computer.

[notalady]

I think 20 is fine if they are varied. I don't agree that having lots of photos is bad, for any reason.

 

The only thing with having that many photos is that there's no focus or highlight, kinda like an essay that goes on and on and you don't know what point it's trying to make. For example having two outdoor photos highlights the outdoorsy side of you, one or two formal looking photos to say I scrub up nicely! While having 10 different outdoorsy photos, people will lose interest in looking at them, and be like ok we get it, you like the outdoors.

 

Probably good to have less than 10 photos, pick out the best ones and make sure there's variety.

[Sportster2005]

The only thing with having that many photos is that there's no focus or highlight, kinda like an essay that goes on and on and you don't know what point it's trying to make. For example having two outdoor photos highlights the outdoorsy side of you, one or two formal looking photos to say I scrub up nicely! While having 10 different outdoorsy photos, people will lose interest in looking at them, and be like ok we get it, you like the outdoors.

 

Probably good to have less than 10 photos, pick out the best ones and make sure there's variety.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree. I like profiles with lots and lots of photos. It isn't an essay, it's a dating profile. You glean a lot from a good quantity of quality images.

[WithLove]

I've run into a couple that put up several internet memes instead of actual photos. Really??

[thornz]

Thanks for your tips guys. Maybe 20 is too many then! I thought I was being honest and showing me in a variety of interests. Match.com allows you five "main" photos where they are more head and shoulders and a "album" that allows you to show other pictures. So I have 5 "main" photos and 13 "album" ones. The album ones are all with my bikes, playing soccer, golf, mountaineering etc. I did this to show I have interests and hobbies and I'm not just a dude who sits at home. What do you reckon? Should I par back to just the 5 main ones? Or fewer even? I read a theory once that says showing too many photos on your profile works against you in online dating but that seems odd to me. But then, What do I know!!!!!

 

Agreed about having sunglasses on so you cant see the person!

 

 

I would say that 20 is far too many for a number of reasons, you can state on your profile that you like outdoor activities. If all your pics are of you out and about, any woman who wants to build something more than a casual relationship could be forgiven for assuming you have no time to spare with all your hobbies and outdoor pursuits. It might also come across as very self absorbed, depending on what/who is in the picture with you. I would try and give a variety of photos that show various aspects of your character and are an accurate reflection of your general life/character.

 

Personally red flag pics for me include:

 

Topless/in bed/in front of mirror photos - suggests one track mind or arrogance.

 

Photos of pets/holding babies or children - interested in you not your pets/nieces and looks like an attempt to catch women who are broody. You can state your desire to start a family in x amount of years, or that you love dogs in your profile. It also shows a disturbing lack of respect of privacy for the children in these pics.

 

Lots of pics of drinking/smoking - one in the pub/club fair enough, but if he has a pint in hand every pic then somebody has a drinking problem.

 

No full length pics - has no arms/legs

 

Only selfies - has no friends

 

Pulling pouty or posing faces - immature

 

Only one pic - is far older/far less attractive/is not this person

 

I could go on . . .