Here is a list of commonly spotted annoyances in the profiles I've viewed (and an attempt at explaining why I find these so annoying):
'Here goes...' written at the start of a profile
I think part of the reason I find this annoying is due to the sheer number of women who write it. You're not about to bungee jump 60 metres off a bridge or tackle Fermat's Last Theorem. Internet dating is not that big a deal these days, so it makes you look a bit pathetic when writing this.
'I like nice things' (or similar)
I've seen this written a couple of times, along with variants such as 'I like having fun'. Err... and that makes you one in a million how, exactly?
'I work hard and play hard'
If you need me to explain to you why this is annoying, you've come to the wrong place.
Sounding like a tart (in the wrong way)
I recently saw something like this on a profile: 'Back for my third attempt on the site as, although I have a 'no romance in the office' rule, I keep breaking it!'. There's nothing wrong with making yourself sound sexually attractive, but we don't want to hear your history in that respect right from the off.
Off-putting words
These include things like 'sassy' 'bubbly' and 'banter'. I have seen all three used together, e.g. 'I'm a sassy, bubbly girl who loves banter'. And the worse contender of all: 'Lovin''. Any mention of this word makes me wonder if you studied English at the University of McDonald's.
Writing 'X' all over the place
I've seen 'X's (kisses) written in some funny places on internet dating sites. Putting one of these at the end of your profile (or even, in rare cases, in your tagline) gives the appearance that you will kiss absolutely anyone. You go to the supermarket and kiss everyone in the queue, then the person on the checkout. Outside, a homeless man asks you for money, and despite saying "No", you give him a kiss too. Store those kisses up for when you actually mean it.
Counting 'the gym' as a hobby
Having recently started going to the gym myself (against all odds) I can understand why people enjoy it. But it's not a hobby, unless you count breathing, blinking and reading the newspaper a hobby. If 'working out' or 'doing crunches' are the only things you've mentioned doing in your profile, it makes you sound very dull indeed. Photography, writing, doing crosswords, knitting, solving Fermat's Last Theorem; those are all hobbies. Even hiking, as it's physical exercise but sometimes with a social element to it, a pub at the end, the beauty of the countryside, etc. But not 'the gym'.
Poor grammar
Looking like you typed your profile in 10 seconds on an iPhone and missing out non-essential words makes you look like you're not that bothered about making the effort to find someone, e.g. 'Recently moved to LDN. Lovin' London life. Not into cats.' There's room to write a LOT more than that, and while I'm not suggesting you write your own version of War and Peace, at least make a bit of an effort!
Moaning about internet dating
Fair enough, as for the most part it is bloody annoying and seems incredibly unnatural to some people. But don't moan about it in your profile, for heaven's sake, as it's off putting, and makes you sound like you moan about everything*. This can be seen in guises such as 'I don't believe that a person can be summed up in a box of text', or 'Having failed at meeting people the normal way, I've resorted to this'.
Those last two paragraphs lead to an important point, and this is the case for all of the sites I've used: you get far more attention when you are new on a dating site. This isn't, for the most part, down to the fickle nature of humans, only wanting the latest thing. It's down to the way these websites are set up, in promoting the profiles of new members. So bare this in mind when you casually sign up and write something like 'I'll fill this bit in later' as you're actually wasting the incredibly brief period when people are checking you out in droves.
N.B. some text has been changed to protect the identity of the people who wrote these.
*Why not set up a blog to let off steam about it, for example?
No comments:
Post a Comment