Last Updated on October 13, 2022
There are many things to consider when putting together your online dating profile. After all, you only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention as they scroll past potential candidates, so you have to put your best foot forward right out of the gate. For many people, that means posting your best photos, so potential suitors know just what you’re working with. It’s a lofty idea, but given that this is 2022, one important question remains: is posting filtered photos considered catfishing?
Should I Use Filters For My Photos?
Many photography apps use filters that can be entertaining to play around with while retouching your photos. Such photos are especially fun to post to your social media accounts for a good laugh with your followers and friends. However, when it comes to your online dating profiles, you really should have at least a few images that aren’t enhanced to the point where you look like a different person. Touching up a few blemishes, fixing the lighting, and covering up your dark circles are perfectly fine. So long as you don’t overdo it and give yourself a complete facelift that leaves you looking more like a Kardashian than yourself.
Of course, it’s essential to look your best, so long as it is, in fact, your best. You want people to get an honest impression of who you are, including your appearance. A photo or two of you as a cartoon character can be cute, but at the end of the day, nobody wants to meet someone and find out they look nothing like their profile pics.
Some Positives For Your Profile Pics
Some positives you should consider are the sheer entertainment value filters can have. They can be excellent conversation starters, putting you in different backgrounds and outfits and slightly different looks to attract attention. Such filters are fine as long as it’s obvious that you’re just having fun and don’t actually have whiskers and cute little mouse ears.
Some Negatives to Filter Out
Filters can have some other negatives, especially for those interested in seeing authentic representations of the people they’re looking at as potential matches. However, most people in the online dating world are most interested in what a person really looks like, not what they look like with overly smoothed skin. So if a person finds too many filtered photos on someone’s profile, they may head to another profile instead of sending a note. And yes, it’s easy to tell who’s using a filter and who isn’t.
If someone doesn’t like the way you look in a photo, they aren’t going to like the way you look in person, sure. But it’s better to find that out upfront than to waste time meeting up with someone who will only reject you when they find out they were catfished.
Is it Still Really You?
When uploading pics to your profile, the main question is, do the photos you’re uploading showcase the real you? Filters can enhance sexy pictures, bringing out a person’s eyes, bodily attributes, and expressions. Still, if you make them so heavy that they no longer show you for who you are, you aren’t doing yourself or anyone else any favors.
Individuality and self-expression are essential parts of any person’s dating profile. If you’re a fan of using filters in real life and feel they help you express an important part of your personality, then, by all means, go for it. It’s perfectly fine to express yourself as long as you do so in moderation. Add a few photos of yourself that show the real you, including pictures of your face, body, or both. If your goal is to attract the most potential dates to your profile, a combination of both standard and filtered pictures is your best option.
Final Notes
People use dating apps because they want to meet real people, and that starts with your profile being an accurate depiction of who you are right now, not who you wish you were or used to be 20 years ago. Look into all the creative ways you can express yourself, and fill out a bio that gives people enough information to entice them into sending that first message. Suppose you think you need filters to be worth someone’s attention. In that case, you may want to get in touch with yourself and accept this simple reminder that you are awesome, yes awesome, exactly the way you already are. All you need to do is share yourself with others to find your place in this amazing adult community online.