Tired of ghosting? 4 ways to make your dating profile unforgettable
To stand out in a crowded digital dating pool, it’s time to ditch the clichés, lead with your unique quirks, and pass the "copy-paste" test.
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If your dating profile says you "love to travel" or "love to laugh", you might be accidentally sabotaging your love life.
A recent study by the dating site "Sister Wives" surveyed 20,000 profiles and found a glaring problem: overused clichés are making daters blend into the background.
In fact, travel is now the most overused topic on apps, appearing even more often than pets or astrology.
Fair or not, clichés are often interpreted as a lack of investment. If you can't be bothered to describe your personality beyond a template, a potential match might assume you'll put the same "copy-paste" energy into a relationship.
It suggests you’re just going through the motions.
"When I see ‘I love to travel’ in a bio, I see it as a beige flag and a form of 'template dating'. It’s not quite a red flag, but a glaring signal that someone’s playing it safe with copy-paste advice from 2015.
"Show people why you’re interesting, don’t just state the obvious," shares Christopher Alesich, relationship expert and CEO of Sister Wives.
He says template phrases like this are a hangover from early online dating, when simply declaring yourself adventurous was enough to stand out.
“A decade ago, this made you sound interesting. But now you’re one of six people in a row saying the same thing.
"You’re competing with thousands of profiles in your area, and most of them sound the same. People need to give more of themselves to gain matches. Dating has evolved, but so many bios clearly haven’t.
"People think it makes them sound cultured and adventurous, but when everyone sounds the same, it stops being interesting and lumps you in a category. And once you’re placed there, you become easy to scroll past."
4 ways to fix your bio and find a match
To stop being a "scroll-past" statistic, Alesich offers four tips to make your profile unmistakably you:
1. Ditch the claims for stories: Instead of saying "I love to travel," mention that time you got lost in a Tokyo night market. Specific anecdotes are better conversation starters than generic hobbies.
2. Show, don't tell: Your photos should do the heavy lifting. Don't just write that you’re outdoorsy, post a photo of yourself mid-hike.
3. Lead with your "quirks": What’s one thing a match hasn't heard before? Whether it’s a weird collection or a specific morning ritual, unique details make you memorable and open up fun discussions.
4. Use the "copy-paste" test: Read your bio back to yourself. If it could belong to literally anyone else, delete it and start over. Your bio should be a reflection of your specific personality, not a template.