Dating apps are magical places that give you the opportunity to meet countless new people, all from the comfort of those ratty basketball shorts you’ve had since high school. If you don’t build a good profile, however, you might as well be showing up to an actual bar with said ratty basketball shorts on, trying to meet people—not a great look. Which is all to say, when you don’t put effort into your Bumble profile, you’ll get fewer matches.
Now sure, there is a limit to what any of us who aren’t, say, Michael B. Jordan can do when it comes to attracting other people. Michael B. Jordan is certainly hot enough to post one blurry photo with an incomplete bio, and do just fine. The rest of us have to make an effort. Here’s how you can help guarantee your perfect match will want to make the first move.
1. Hit us with your best shot.
Your first photo should be of just you; yes, it’s great that you have friends, but your potential match shouldn’t have to pick you out of a lineup. While it might seem like a short-cut, this solo photo can’t be a selfie. Selfies are simply too close up for anyone to get an idea of what you actually look like. Back up a bit and ask a trusted friend to take a high-quality photo of you. A good quality photo of a less attractive person beats a blurry photo of a hunk any day. Just think…none of those Instagram influencers you follow post blurry photos. Oh, and maybe put down the sunglasses.
2. Verify your profile.
Bumble lets you verify your profile so people know you aren’t trying to catfish them. Verifying your profile makes you seem safer, which, in case you’re unaware, is hotter. Risk-taking is for ziplining or eating scorpions, not Bumble matches.
3. Update your bio, but get creative.
Get clichés out of your bio. If your bio says anything about a burrito, hosts an Anchorman quote or claims that you “work hard, play hard,” you’re not going to stand out. You might as well just put the shrimp emoji in your bio and hope for the best. In fact, someone with just a shrimp emoji instead of a thoughtful bio is at the very least weird, which I can’t say for the 1,284,089th person with the bio “we can say we met at Whole Foods.” All that bio tells potential matches is that you know of a popular upscale grocery store.
Include something unique about yourself— are you an identical twin? Have you been to every baseball stadium in the country? Say that! Can’t think of anything unusual? Ask a fun question. One of my friends has “Do you make your bed every morning?” in his bio and people inevitably contact him to answer the question. You can ask anything from the bland, “What’s the last book you read?” to the funny, “What’s the worst place you’ve thrown up?” People like answering questions, and a complete bio increases your chances of matching by 13%.
