To fully flesh this profile out, I'm going to make some assumptions because Ben doesn't share specifics. It's OK to make assumptions for the sake of this dating profile example since I'm creating a bio from scratch. If I were to talk to Ben directly, I'd ask him questions regarding what we just extracted. For example, Ben used the word adventure. List Online Dating Headline Examples. Any headline that lists a number of reasons, secrets, types,. Username: johnson1970 name: Johnson Donald. More » Comments off. Alexio Dementri, alexdementri@gmail.com. OkCupid Profile Example #7: Not only does it imply you’ve got the financial means to take fun trips, she’ll also imagine herself along for the ride. OkCupid Profile Example #8: Keeping what you write in your profile consistent with what’s in your photos is the key to success on OkCupid.
OkCupid is one of the most popular online dating services out there. If you’re looking for love on the web, OkCupid is probably a good place to start. As soon as you’re set up, all you have to do is get to swiping and messaging and you’ll be good to go right? Well, almost. As with any dating app, your profile is the first thing daters see when they open the app, so you’ve got to make your first impression count.
OkCupid has a more complex profile system that has ten short answer sections. It’s not required to fill them all out, but it’s definitely recommended. And to help you out we’re offering examples and tips for each.
Here are some OkCupid profile examples for men to get your creative juices flowing:
My self-summary
I’m a chef by day and actor by night with some time in between for beach bumming. Friends, family, and a cold glass of beer (anything craft) on the weekends are my anchor. Looking for someone who is passionate and hardworking, but knows how to let loose too.
How To Write A Good Okcupid Profile
Me, a Haiku
I can play all sports
and work in advertising,
Dinner at seven?
Current goal
I’m working to be a doctor. As you’ve probably heard, it’s…hard, and I don’t have that much time to commit to dating right now. That said I’ll be able to save your life one day, so that’s got to be worth something, right?
Tip 1: Who You Are, What You Do, Where to Find You
This structure is a great way to summarize yourself in a nutshell. Anyone can learn a lot about you from your likes, your job, and your favorite activities. You can write a longer answer if you’re looking to come off a bit more serious and short if you want your profile to read quippier.
Tip 2: Burning Desire Turns to Hot Date
What’s your passion? What’s your dream job? Are you already doing it? What would you do with a million dollars? These are the things that make you tick and can tell other daters a lot about you. Reach for the stars and then write about it in your bio. Passion is sexy, and everybody likes a dreamer.
I could probably beat you at
naming Nicolas Cage movies off the top of my head. When I was in 11th grade, I decided I would watch every movie that he’s been in. I did. Mom wasn’t impressed. Message me if you are!
I love this about myself
I haven’t broken a bone in my body. For normal people, that’s a wow. I’m an ex-gymnast and I dance hip-hop, so for me, it’s a miracle. Let’s hope it stays that way *fingers crossed*
My weirdest quirk
I can play almost any wind instrument. I started with sax in school and moved out from there. Want Kenny G on flute? I got you. *Disclaimer: Have not yet attempted bagpipes.
Tip 3: I Can, I Am, I’m Not
This one is for hobbies, interests, and hidden talents. Whether you can do a mean Larry David impression or like to spend the weekends taking woodshop, this approach let’s you talk about what you like to do for fun. Answers can range from goofy to passionate, but should all show off your personality.
Tip 4: Confident, Quirky, and Flirty
Whether it’s singing to your mirror with a hairbrush microphone or putting mustard on your eggs, it’s okay to be a little quirky in your profile as long as it’s you. The person you’re looking for is looking for someone confident in who they are and will find your quirks endearing. Don’t hide what makes you unique. You’ll do better owning it.
A movie I’ve watched over and over and over again
Zoolander. Blue Steel, Magnum, La Tigra? It’s like Ben Stiller played three roles in one movie. No one can tell me that he’s not a comic genius! I’m still holding out for good ol’ Ben’s comeback.
The tastiest thing I’ve ever consumed
The Impossible Burger, hands down. A meatless burger that tastes like meat is probably the best thing ever. OK, well, that and every ice cream sundae I’ve ever had. How can you beat ice cream?
I value
Friendship. My friends are everything to me. They’ve helped me through a lot and that bond is irreplaceable and a whole lot of fun. Friends first, then everything else after.
Tip 5: Rep It Loud, Rep It Proud
Got an embarrassing favorite middle school band? We all do. Never miss a Giants game? You’re not alone. We’re an entertainment nation and we connect on our movies, music, books, and sports. Pick your faves and shout it out. This is one of the best ways to find common ground.
Tip 6: What Are You About? No, What Are You Really About?
Chances are you value something more than anything. Is it your family? Your faith? Keylime pie? Dealbreakers and dealmakers are real. If you’ve got them, now is the time to let other daters know. Think about what’s important for you and you’ll attract people who feel the same.
The last show I binged
Stranger Things! I watched the first two seasons in five days. (Still convinced this is record time.) I’ve had this weird craving for Eggos since…
I should spend less time
Working. Certified workaholic here. I love my job, but there’s life outside of work. Right? Right???
On a typical Friday night I am
Off to the gym, to the home to freshen up, then to the club. I have a habit of catching Saturday Night Fever a day or two early.
Tip 7: Guilty Pleasures
We all have them. From Netflix binges to your favorite conspiracy theory, it’s your hidden loves that make you, you. So celebrate them. People like bonding over vices as much as virtues, and they can make you stand out.
Tip 8: There Aren’t Enough Days in the Weekend
Sunday funday versus lazy weekends? How we spend our free time says a lot. So think about it. When the weekend arrives are you out to the movies, the bar, or the gym? There’s no wrong answer here, only your answer.
The most private thing I’m willing to admit
I just got out of a breakup, and I’m just getting back out there for the first time in a while. I’m not quite sure what I’m looking for, but drinks, dinner or bowling sound like a good start.
If I were sent to jail, I’d be arrested for
asking for too many samples at the ice cream shop. I always end up apologizing to the people behind me in line. “I’m a bad role model, kids. Don’t follow in my footsteps.”
You should message me if
You’re looking for something serious. I’ve done the short-term dating thing and no knock on it, but it’s not for me. I’m looking for a genuine connection with someone that thinks it’s okay to (occasionally) eat dinner after midnight. Open to dinner suggestions~
Tip 9: Get Vulnerable
It’s great to be fun and carefree, but we all have our feelings, too. Sharing something vulnerable can sometimes be the quickest way to an open heart, so open up. There’s no shame in putting something private out there.
Tip 10: Tell Me What You Want (What You Really, Really Want)
If you know what you’re looking for in a relationship, write it in your bio. If you don’t know, well, you can write that too. Honesty is the best policy, and that’s a rule that isn’t changing anytime soon. If you’re straightforward and upfront about what you’re looking for, that’s your best ticket to find it.
These OkCupid profile examples are meant to inspire. Unfortunately, the whole thing isn’t an exact science. It may take some tweaking to get your profile just right. The bright side is that time is on your side.
If you’re still looking for more inspiration, check out our Pinterest board of online dating profile examples to see more online dating profiles examples for men from different dating sites and apps.
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TL;DR: OKCupid’s study on male dating photos fails reproducibility
If you’re a guy who uses online dating sites/apps, you’ve probably heard this one: don’t smile in your picture. Better yet, don’t smile and look away from the camera.
This tip originated on the OkCupid’s OkTrends blog in January 2010. The post was called The 4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures.
Growing skepticism
Since OkCupid published their data in support of not smiling in pics, the tip has been quoted as gospel truth on dating advice blogs, PUA podcasts, dozens of dating subreddits, forums, everywhere.
But, at the same time, widespread skepticism rose too. One Reddit commenter put it this way:
“Despite what OkCupid may say, I believe that in Tinder’s last roundup of the top 100 male profiles, basically all of them were smiling in their lead picture.”
Further — everywhere men floated the “don’t smile in pictures” advice, many women decried how much they hated these nonsmiling pictures. But, the men countered, women don’t necessarily know what they want. After all, OkCupid’s findings were based on behavior, not just talk, right?
Photofeeler steps in
This is where we at Photofeeler come in. Like everyone else, we believed in OkCupid’s conclusions. But the more data we collected about men’s dating photo attractiveness, the more it became undeniable: OkCupid’s advice wasn’t raising men’s photo scores.
At first, this realization was frustrating. We even worried our tool could be flawed. But every time we looked into this, we found the same thing: daters who used Photofeeler for photo testing were getting right-swipes like never before. In fact, users reported 3-5x (200-400%) more matches! So the opinions on our site were translating directly into behavior.
We decided it was time for someone to challenge the OkCupid study.
Using the massive stores of data on our platform, we set out to reproduce OkCupid’s process (as laid out by the Myths of Profile Pictures post). We narrowed the demographics of our data set accordingly, matching their 7,140-photo sample. Then we ran each picture through a variety of analysis scripts (in our case, neural nets that detected smiles and eye contact) as well as tagged each one by hand until total agreement was reached. Finally, we used Photofeeler attractiveness ratings to gauge the success of the various photo types (smiling, not smiling, eye contact, no eye contact).
What We Found (Results/Findings)
Here is OkCupid’s study results vs. our own:
OkCupid’s data said that not smiling and not making eye contact was better.
Ours says that whether you smile or not makes no statistically-significant difference (except in the case of eye contact and no smile, which is harmful).
Here are some possible reasons behind the differing results.
I. Evidence suggests OkCupid manipulated their data set to get a click-worthy result
Let’s be real here: research can be a racket. Back in 2010, no one would publish “smiling works great in dating photos!!1” because most people assumed that already. Affirming what people already know is boring. A counter-intuitive result (e.g. “smiles are actually unattractive!”) was far more sensational.
Most people think data ought to speak for itself. But data can be manipulated. To put it frankly, data can be manipulated to show practically any result that the scientist would like it to. And in OkCupid’s case, it’s reasonable to assume that they got the interesting result they wanted, in part, by cutting out particular populations from their data set.
OkCupid used a sample of 7,140 photographs from users aged 18-32, in big cities, possessing average attractiveness (that is, they lopped off the top and bottom 20%), and who had profiles containing only one photo and no text. Then “after a bit more sifting” (!), they landed on their study’s data set.
How To Write An Okcupid Profile
Why did OkCupid eliminate users outside of the ages of 18 and 32? Why did they eliminate users who were most and least attractive? The explanation given (that they “[feared it] would skew [their] results”) is no explanation at all. They didn’t have to “fear” anything because, in all likelihood, they first ran their numbers with these populations included. They just didn’t get as interesting of a result that way.
The over-sifting of the data set likely obscured other trends that were more responsible for profile success than the photo characteristics the study claimed to be measuring. For instance, it’s possible that the men in the top 20% of attractiveness were attractive and smiling, and the men in the bottom 20% of attractiveness were unattractive and not smiling. This leaves only smiling ugly guys at the bottom of the spectrum and grumpy hot guys at the top, making it look like being grumpy makes you hot.
II. OkCupid had far too little data to draw conclusions
Building on the previous point, there’s the question of how many pictures of men not smiling and not making eye contact were in the data set to begin with.
Giving OkCupid the benefit of the doubt, let’s say their sample was 50/50 male and female (even though it would likelier have skewed female). 7,140 photos is only about 3,570 per gender.
This is a good sample if you’re measuring a condition that will be present in all of the photos. But the number of men who were not smiling and looking away (especially in early 2010, before OkCupid advised it) would be in the hundreds at most. Even today, less than 15% of photos have no eye contact. Before OkCupid declared it superior, it was likely 5-10% (200-300 photos split into 3 groups: smiling/not/flirty).
We know for certain that OkCupid knowingly made claims based on too little data because they had approximately 7 photos of male “flirty face” with no eye contact and they still drew conclusions about its effectiveness.
Not to mention, the metric they were using to gauge a male dater’s profile effectiveness (“women met per attempt”) is a wildly varying and unbounded metric; one guy with a particularly interesting photo that gets one unsolicited message per day could have easily made their whole result.
III. OkCupid had a biased population sample
Trends change. In data science, we know it can be difficult to find consistent trends even between visitors of the same website from one week to the next.
Is it likely that trends found among a very specific niche of male daters long ago — those who chose to upload only one photo and no profile text to OkCupid in 2009 — could translate to a viable Tinder strategy for all men in 2017?
The truth is that societal and dating norms have changed a lot in this amount of time. For instance, dating online used to be taboo. So perhaps giving an air of “I’m too good for this” with a non-smiling, looking away photo and no profile text appealed slightly more to women at the time.
Further, what kind of man uploads one photo and no profile text? Perhaps it’s this personality type (not the photo’s characteristics out of context) that speak to which photo strategies worked best for him.
IV. The OkCupid study itself spawned a new class of bad photos
Finally, let’s chat for a moment about what happens when a highly popular dating site disseminates misinformation about what works best in guy’s dating pics: a new class of male dating photos is born.
We hypothesize that the publicity of OkCupid’s results gave rise to a new type of dating photo within which the subject is purposefully avoiding smiling and eye contact, in which the subject seems to be awkwardly looking in another direction for no apparent reason. Internally, we labeled these photos as “avoidant” because they tend to come across to strangers as if the subject is too timid to make eye contact.
Fact is, these avoidant photos just didn’t exist before the 2010 OkCupid study. Before this advice was made popular by OkCupid, the only instances of not smiling and not making eye contact were at least somewhat contextually relevant. After: not so much.
Conclusions
OKCupid’s study on male dating photos did not pass the reproducibility test in 2017.
Our data suggests that there is no one-size-fits-all photo strategy for all men. Rather, it’s important to determine what’s appropriate and natural in context, and to consider what characteristics you individually have to offer a mate.
Truthfully, even if a particular photo strategy showed a slight difference in average effectiveness, the individual photos score all over the map.
That’s because certain strategies may work better for certain people or in certain contexts. If you want to know what works: try it, test it.
Photofeeler is a tool for testing profile pics, as seen in Time, Forbes, The Today Show, and more. Know for certain how you’re coming across in your dating pictures. It’s free to use here.