“Which pictures should I put on my profile in order to be successful?” – This is a question ambitious online daters should ask themselves. That’s because in the world of digital love seeking, your front page is your story. A “hot or not” decision is only a matter of seconds, based on what’s shown in a dating profile.
image via pinterest
Dating Scout expert Celia Schweyer and her team have analysed millions of dating profile pictures to show which picture habits can be found on dating profiles of Australians – and who’s using online dating services.
Who’s using online Dating in Australia?
The average male Australian online dater is 28 years old, the average female only 26.4 years. And, almost 85% of people who are on dating sites or apps are younger than 35. Most Aussie online daters are in fact men. Our analysis showed that the gender ratio for online dating users is at 63.9% men and only 36.1% women. This varies a bit from state to state, but not too much: In New South Wales, we found the lowest “male rate” at 59.6%, and the highest in Western Australia at 64.7%.
Profile Picture habits of Australian Men
From the long history of mankind, we know that male chances to succeed in the dating game are especially high when physical attractiveness and cultural capital meet. Looking into our data, we see that many men are trying to satisfy these necessities by using pictures of themselves while training at the gym or showing their possessions like cars, tech, or luxury items.
But how much do men actually show? The next thing to look at here is the number of profile pictures. Australian men upload 4.3 pictures on average, which is good – but our recommendation would be having 5 pictures.
So, what remarkable things can be said about the pics and poses of Aussie men?
They don’t like showing their whole face. Yep, that’s true. Pictures where the face is in the focus, not hidden behind sunglasses or anything else only make up 15% of all of men’s pictures – for women, it’s 37%.
Other noticeable habits are: Fewer selfies than women, rarely any smile, and more “courage”, if you want to call it like that, for goofiness. You wouldn’t believe how many men are posing in superhero costumes.
Profile picture habits of Australian women
Most Australian women love to offer a broad view of themselves with 4 to 5 profile pictures. The average number of profile pictures is 4.7. Dominant motives are travel pics and posing with friends. It’s noticeable that women are posting fewer pictures of popular spare time activities than men do. Whether it’s sports, music, eating or drinking – there are more men posting these kinds of picture motives. Well, even when it comes to wedding themed pictures, the men steal the spotlight.
Australian women thus prefer using pictures with them being the “main attraction” in them. Selfies or portraits make up a big part – many including the ubiquitous sunglasses. While looking fleeky, these are hiding relevant parts of the face.
Fun facts
In our analysis, we checked over 6.000 picture motives. Sure there are some rather specific and hilarious facts to tell about the online dating singles from Down Under:
– The Australian online daters hold 73,5% of photos including a visible toilet seat internationally
– There are more pictures of just surfboards than people actually surfing
– Pictures including salads are uploaded more frequent by men (75%)
– Posing with alcoholic beverages is most popular in the Australian Capital Territory
– Most lightly dressed pictures are uploaded by singles from Queensland
– Australia ranks #2 internationally for most pictures including luxury items (#1 is France)
– Also, Australian singles rank second for “most angry looking” among all countries in our analysis
What you can do to improve your Picture selection
First of all, have enough photos on your profile to give visitors a broad view of yourself. Five pictures are highly recommended. Be brave enough to show your face- in more than one picture. Avoid sunglasses if possible. Include a full body shot.
Post pictures that show what matters to you or what you like doing. Travels, hobbies, pets. Yes, some might say to not have your dog on your pictures, but look at it that way: You have a dog, you love it, and you’d want your potential partner to get along with it, right?
Furthermore, have good quality photos, pay attention to what’s in the background (remember the toilet seat?) and don’t forget to smile.
