Julie Feinstein Adams advises clients on their dating profile photos for social media.
How often should you change your profile photos on social media sites including online dating sites? This post offers advice about Facebook, Twitter, Match and others. For advice on LinkedIn visit my companion post on LinkedIn.
Keep attention on yourself by changing your profile photo frequently.
Julie Feinstein Adams advises clients on dating profiles and online match sites. “Generally, online dating services like Match and OKCupid (the two my clients use most) reward users for interactions, whether with other people, or with the interface itself.
“Changing your profile photo is a very exciting interaction as far as the system robots are concerned. You will be rewarded: your profile will be bumped back to the top of other users’ searches and thus you will generally see an uptick in responses from other members.
“Taking this a little further, changing your profile photos shows that you are paying attention to how others see you, a sign that you care about making connections. It also keeps your profile interesting to people who might have slotted you into their favorites.”
Change The Photo When Your Appearance Changes
Catherine Montalbo works with men to keep their image up to date. If you shave that beard, put up a new photo. She says men should change their photo “when their appearance changes significantly, for example, through a dramatic change in hairstyle or hair color, addition or removal of facial hair, or if the person has had a significant weight loss or gain.”
Catherine Montalbo, gentlemen’s image consultant.
Don’t Use A Selfie, Croppie or Webcamie Photo
Debbie Leight of Computers Made Easy Says, “Considering that taking of professional photos involves a financial investment, I’d guess people shouldn’t change it unless there’s a compelling reason to do so. If someone has a photo that would easily be identified as a “selfie” or a “croppie” – I just made that word up for the type of photo that I used to have which contained my brother’s chopped out shoulder or a “webcamie” – another made up word for a photo taken with someone’s computer camera, they should change it out immediately. If they’ve lost or gained a significant amount of weight or changed their hair color or style drastically, it would be a good idea to update their profile.”
Keep it Up-to-Date
First of all, have a profile photo. Career Happiness Expert Julie Bauke stresses for the older job seeker that having a profile photo makes sure you are not out-of-touch with technology. “In fact, if you do not have a photo on your profile, it looks like you are 1) out of touch technology wise and 2) you are hiding something.”
Make the photos match across all your sites.
JoAnne Funch of Marketing Dish says, “be sure your profile photos are professional in nature, posting a photo of you on vacation as your LinkedIn profile picture is not a good idea. Lastly, be sure the photo or photos you use are congruent on all your social sites and reflects your brand image.”
LinkedIn consultant Christine Hueber agrees: “I think that the most important thing is that their photo is consistent everywhere online and that they look like their picture.”
Debbie Leight of Computers Made Easy helps her clients navigate technology including keeping up with social media websites.
Change the Photos Frequently
Johanna Wise of Connect Work Thrive thinks Facebook is a more visual site and photos should change frequently. “On Facebook, I would change profile photos regularly, just because photos attract attention on Facebook more than words, and if you want your posts to be read, you need to post fresh photos. Facebook is a more personal site, so it’s nice to share on a more personal level.”
Julie Feinstein Adams adds that keeping those dating site robots happy with a stable of good shots is the best approach. “Taking down and adding your other photos may still trigger the robots to move your profile to the top. So, having a number of shots that work as primary and secondary photos, a mini portfolio in a variety of moods, expressions, poses, and backgrounds that you can swap in and out, can be effective to have in your dating toolbox as well.”
So get rid of that old stale photo ASAP. Hire a professional if you want the best results. You can see some great examples of professional headshots on our website at SRKheadshotday.com where you can also book your headshot appointment.
