Yodz Guide To Interpreting Profile Photo on Social Networking Sites

Do you have a photo of your dog as your profile pic on Facebook, Friendster or Multiply? What about a picture of you and your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend? One buddy I went to college with has an image of his penis (that is what he says) as his profile pic. Every time my female college classmates see it, it weirds them out.

Some believe that having a profile picture… a good profile picture… is one of the most important aspects of online surfing or Facebook profile.

However, I do always think that a profile is not as important as your first approach message… but it is a key element if you are selling yourself (looking for relationship or sex online.)

I don’t know what a lot of netizens think when a “no-face” tries to talk to them on the internet without a picture? Maybe they are thinking… Wow, what a creep. What’s he/she got to hide? He/She probably looks like a disgusting mutant. Gross! Even worse… they might also think you’re just down-right unconfident and insecure.

But, are the impressions of those strangers important? 

So what kind of pictures should I be using?

The study entitled “Is Your Profile Picture Worth 1000 Words? Photo Characteristics Associated with Personality Impression Agreement,” explored the characteristics of the profile photographs and their association with impression agreement. It concludes that the more information the photos contained about the personality of the profile owners, the higher the impression agreement from zero-acquaintance visitors. Profile photos of a human being rather than an animal or non-human object were associated with higher impression agreement. Impression agreement was also higher when the photos revealed facial features (such as smiling) and hairstyles (not obscured by hats), which have been shown in past research to be used appropriately to gauge Extraversion and Agreeableness in strangers (Zebrowitz and Collins 1997).

By the way, here is a supposed-to-be guide for interpreting the profile pictures of your unknown "friends" in Myspace, Facebook, Friendster, etc.

EXAMPLE	PHOTO TYPE	WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO THINK	THE TRUTH
	BLURRY	Artistic	Has acne, possibly mustache if female, nearsighted, cross-eyed.
	ANIME	Eccentric, possibly Japanese	Computer geek, Can't leave childhood
	Holding some sort of alcoholic beverage	Funny, laid back	There was never been a photograph taken of them where they weren't holding an alcoholic beverage
	Very closely cropped	Enigmatic	Fat
	Jamming on Guitar	He's in a popular band and rocks out all the time	Unemployed
	Close-up breasts	Sexy and Naughty	Fat
	Face at strange, usually downward angle	Eccentric possibly super model	Ugly; this is the only good picture of them ever taken
	Dark brooding	Doesn't care	Dangerous, possibly a pirate or a terrorist
	Cartoon character, such as Tweety Bird or Bugs Bunny	Cute, playful	Immature, probably fat or ugly
	Guy with beard sitting on couch	Sits on a couch a lot, has a beard	Sits on a couch a lot, has a beard