Contributed by: Jet on Monday, June 17 2013 @ 07:12 am
Last modified on
When it comes to editing your online dating profile, there’s one simple concept that must be hunted down, and, if at all possible, eradicated. It’s the quickest way to turn an otherwise-interesting profile into a snoozefest. It can take a few different forms, but they are always dull. This weed that slowly clutters and chokes your profile goes by a common name: the laundry list.
The laundry list is not an actual list of laundry; it’s a list of anything. Would you like to sit around reading someone’s mundane to-do list for the day? Well, there’s something about the list form that makes everyone’s eyes glaze over, regardless of content. However, it’s particularly attractive to those who are writing their profiles, because it allows them to quickly unload a bunch of information without have to explain or even think about it. They may feel like a laundry list is a good way to sneak in an excess of info, unnoticed.
Except we always notice it. And then skip over it.
The most common offenders are the sections where one must list their favorite movies, television shows, or books. To many, these are indicators of taste, common interest, or representative of their general personality. They want to appear well-rounded, yet deep. The only solution, they feel, is to list every single one of their favorites - a list that has been growing since they were children.
Unfortunately for them, what tends to happen is that the reader sees a block of text ahead and skims, or jumps below altogether. Instead of a potentially “incomplete” view of this subject that means so much to the author, there’s no impression at all.
What to do instead? Well, it’s hard to really talk about your favorites without a list, so try to minimize it as much as possible: one or two representative samples from each genre. Believe it or not, if someone has similar tastes to yours, they’ll likely be able to recognize it from a few examples. Or you don’t need to list any titles at all - it might be more interesting to talk about what genre excites you the most and why.
The other common form of the laundry list tends to thrive in the main body of online profiles - or, more specifically, in any part in which the author is asked what they’re looking for in a prospective match. Suddenly lists abound! It might be a list of what they do want, or it might be a list of what they don’t.
As you sit down to write this section, ask yourself: are you about to make a take-out order at a drive-thru window? If not, avoid thinking of your potential match as such. Remember, too, that you don’t know exactly who you’ll click with, and getting too specific might discourage someone who otherwise could be great. Thus, try to think of them more in terms of a general impression - qualities that would catch your eye if you saw them instead of a list of requirements.
The laundry list is insidious, and we might not even realize we’re reading one until our eyelids begin to droop. So be ever vigilant, and maybe get someone else to proofread, after warning them what they’re looking for. The laundry list may be deadly to a profile, but it’s an easy fix - if you know to look for it.