A new study from Inner Circle reveals that UK singles are keen to find ‘authentic’ dating app matches. 8 in 10 UK singles are put off by edited, filtered, and curated photos on a dating app profile.
Despite 43% of singles admitting to curating their own dating app photos, they appreciate when other users have genuine pictures of their true selves. An experiment by Inner Circle found that authentic images boosted profile likes by 142% with a 58% rise in messages received.
In light of this news, Inner Circle released new photo guidance to steer users in the right direction when setting up their profiles. It also shared that it will be now prompting users to more authentic images through push notifications.
The app released a list of 5 photo types which singles are most keen to see from a potential match:
- A clear shot of your face
- A filter free photo
- A photo of what you look like on a normal day
- A full body shot
- A photo that shows your personality – doing something you love
“Dating apps are behind the curve when it comes to the trend towards authenticity. The data is clear – singles love to see genuine photos of others. It helps them build a picture of the other person, work out what they have in common and see if there’s a spark”, said Crystal Cansdale, Inner Circle’s resident dating expert.
“By putting up authentic photos, the people you’re into will see the real you and it’ll attract like minded matches. We’re calling on singles to put their best, true selves forward – cutting out time wasting and bad matches”, Cansdale explained.
Her top tips for dating app photos are to update them every couple of months, to provide as many photos as possible, and to enlist your friends to help capture regular and relevant photos.
The study’s research comes from speaking with 1019 actively dating UK singles who use dating apps.