Contributed by: Jet on Thursday, January 27 2011 @ 07:46 pm
Last modified on
You’ve probably heard time and time again that it’s good to smile in your online dating profile default pic - and for the most part, this is true. After all, when you smile, you typically avoid that “mugshot” face. You appear less intimidating and more approachable. And we subconsciously mirror the expressions we see, so if someone sees you smiling, they’ll smile back - and probably feel more warmly toward you as a result.
However, this only really applies when it comes to genuine smiles - and most people can tell the difference, consciously or not, between a genuine smile and a fake smile. Therefore, if you have a candid photo where you’re laughing or smiling naturally, it’s almost always good to include it, even if you think you look silly. Most of us don’t have a photographer on hand to make us laugh, however, and we wind up trying to take our own self-portrait. And when it comes to a genuine smile, that can be tricky.
One of the upsides to digital cameras is that you can take endless amounts of pictures and delete them if they’re bad. However, I’ve seen some people become too picky. They might have a great photo of their smile, but reject it because a piece of hair is out of place. Think about the profiles you’ve seen of other people: do you remember the details, or the general emotions they stirred?
By far the biggest problem in self portraits lies in the windows to the soul: the eyes. A tell-tale sign of a fake smile is the eyes. In most people, eyes crinkle up a bit at the corners when they’re genuinely happy. However, I know people who purposely widen their eyes when they take a photo - because they don’t want to look too “squinty.” Have you ever seen someone with a wide smile and equally wide eyes? Plainly put, it looks creepy.
If you’re looking to smile in your online profile photos, try to smile for legitimate reasons. Put on a funny movie in the background. Loosen up and take photos of silly faces to make the camera less intimidating. And remember, it’s far better to go for a real smile that might not be the most flattering ever, than a perfectly polished picture with a false, scary grin.