OPW - Nov 21 -There is a science to which photos attract the most attention. Sam Yagan, CEO of OKCupid, explains the importance of a good profile picture.
Q: How did you collect the data and what are some of the most surprising things you’ve discovered?
A: We grabbed 7,000 pictures and manually went through and tagged each photo on 3 really important characteristics - face expression, where the picture was taken and how suggestive the picture was.
Q: What were the most surprising things that you found?
A: The first was it doesn’t really matter if you smile or not and it doesn’t even matter whether your face is clear in the picture. The most surprising thing is it doesn’t really matter how pretty the picture is. What really matters is if it starts a conversation. “A picture is worth a thousand words".
Q: What about gentlemen? Do the same rules apply? Do women want to see men flirting with the camera? Does it matter if the man is up on a mountain or in the backyard or whatever?
A: So some of the rules are the same and some are different. One tip for men, don’t look straight into the camera. Women don’t like men who stare at them at bars and women don’t like men who stare at them online. If you have good abs show them off.
Q: How often should one update their profile?
A: Pretty regularly, keep your profile fresh and interesting.
