Picking The Perfect Profile Photo: Fact vs. Fiction

The amount of information available on the Internet about choosing an effective picture for an online dating profile is enough to make anyone's brain go into Stage 5 Meltdown Mode.

You could spend hours reading about MySpace angles, the pros and cons of showing skin, and the success rate of pics with puppies, or you could simply continue reading this, a brief guide to picking the perfect profile photo that will have you ready to start exploring your online love life in just a few minutes. The choice is yours.

Have you made a decision?

Good. Let's get right to the juicy facts and fictions surrounding the profile photo.

The biggest myth about profile pictures is that you don't need one. Yes, we all want to be loved for our dazzling intellects, deep souls, and one-of-a-kind personalities, but it's a fact that profiles without pictures get significantly fewer views than those with them.

"Fine!" you say, sulking like a petulant teenager. "I'll upload a photo. But I'm doing it because I want to, not because you tell me to. Now how do I choose the right one?"

Excellent question.

When it comes to the profile picture, context is key. Instead of weighing your profile down with bland statements like "I love to cook," "I'm in a band," and "I'm a total yoga fanatic," use your pictures to illustrate your interests and your most attractive qualities. Replace "I'm an animal lover" with a picture of that time you went horseback riding in the Grand Canyon. Trade "Soccer is my favorite sport" for a photo of you scoring the winning goal at last weekend's match. "I love to travel" is much less interesting than a shot of you at the top of Mount Everest!

Ok, so that last example might have been a little extreme, but you get the idea...

A picture of you doing something interesting offers other members an easy way to start chatting with you, and studies have shown that messages based off of photos like these lead to the most meaningful conversations.

The next myth might surprise you.

You should never upload a profile photo taken with a mobile phone or webcam, right?

According to research from OkCupid.com, that's actually fiction. The site conducted a study of 7,000 photos uploaded by its members and found that, contrary to popular belief, profiles featuring pictures taken with cell phones and webcams received a high volume of messages. The study also revealed that women received the most responses when they flirted directly with the camera and smiled with their lips closed, while men got the most responses when they posted pictures with animals, ab shots (if their abs were worth showing off, that is!), and photos in which they were looking away from the camera.

If you're still having trouble deciding which pictures to use, consider posting a few options on a site like HotOrNot.com or asking a few of your closest friends. You'll be surprised at how widely opinions can vary, even when the photos are all of the same person, and there's a good chance that the picture other people like best isn't the one you would have guessed.