Online dating profiles: less > more, quality + quantity, what?

[easyguy]

I was browsing through some profiles on OkCupid a few minutes ago, and came accross a young lady's profile that had a lot of text written about herself, describing all aspects of her life (very well written, too). At the bottom of the page were several little comments about her, which I rarely see on the profiles I run accross on that site. Which made me think:

 

When writing up your own personal profile, is it better to be brief and to the point in your self descripton(s), or would you get more attention (given that you have a picture or two up) if you write out a lot of text that covers many bases in your life (quality and quantity)?

 

Just curious, because I have yet to have any luck with the whole online dating thing.

 

Thanks for your opinions!

[ElektraHere]

I think it depends on how expressive the person is. If you can write with ease then you will probably have a longer profile. Someone who can't put their thoughts on paper real well would have a shorter profile.

[LostInMyThoughts]

Generally "more" is better, but quality is more important than quantity.

 

That said, I general ignore profiles with spare sentences, and go for something that is a little more robust.

 

Then again, I don't like reading a novel about a persons life either.

[Dating Coach]

Here is a discussion that could be helpful to you in setting up your online profiles:

 

 

 

 

 

Hope that helps!

[Sisyphus]

I think it depends on how expressive the person is. If you can write with ease then you will probably have a longer profile. Someone who can't put their thoughts on paper real well would have a shorter profile.

 

I disagree! Conciseness is the soul of wit.

 

Oh, and Diggity, that is a very good profile! Intriguing, interesting, provocative!

[Budman]

my thoughts

 

 

 

Personally, More = Better. In my opinion, any woman on those sites will get 10x the responses a man will Good profile or not.

[Sisyphus]

Concise doesn't mean uninteresting. My rule in writing is that it is better to accomplish the same in less words. In the case of dating profiles, you are just one more self-indulgent essay with a faceshot. It is the photos that grab their attention to begin with; don't lose it with a redundant or wordy wank session.

 

And another thing, isn't one of the exciting parts of dating someone new getting to know them?

[annie24]

I also don't think that more is better. similar to what sis said, "brevity is the soul of wit." or better yet, "brevity is wit."

 

you want to be short, but interesting. intriguing. think of commercials. they have catchy slogans. like, "beef - it's what's for dinner." or "Once you pop, you can't stop." You don't need a huge drawn out ad as to why you should have beef for dinner! just a few pictures of some enticing beef, a fact or two about its nutritional content, that is it.

 

same with online dating. give an intriguing profile, a few interesting facts about you, a few great photos.

 

if you write EVERYTHING about yourself, I would think, "ok, so I see what this person is all about. I don't need to get coffee with them to know more."

 

it's like the posts here on eNotalone. people don't respond to the posts that go on FOREVER! and we rarely respond to a post that is just 1 sentence long. 1-2 paragraphs are what seems to catch people's attention and make us think about them and their situation and respond.