Photos for dating?

[MoreThanSmooth]

I legitimately might start just approaching girls at the bar. Unfortunately I live in a tiny village and the pub is more likely to be frequented by old farmers than cuties!

The one time I've tried it, I told her my name and she looked at me silently with utter disgust, like I'd just threatened her with a machete. But always worth another go I suppose. Anything is better than my current experience of the online dating carousel.

Ever since I started doing this, I seem to have had a steady influx of messages from more attractive women, including the hot types most guys can never get a response from. I guess women like that new piece of candy too, so that's what I try to become and what I give them free access to.

Yeah I wondered if it was something to do with their deliberately cutting off my circulation. I might try this but (and I know this sounds lazy) it sounds like a s***-ton of effort. Mind you, I don't mind busting my balls to get dates if it works. But so far I think I'm just a bit fed up with OLD full stop.

It's an awkward choice but I think I'd rather be dateless and free to do whatever the heck I want in my free time than be constantly burning my free time thinking about how I can get some random chick online to notice me. Because even when I get that notice it's always:

Me: "Entertaining and witty personalised intro" (because let's not forget, guys aren't allowed to just say "hi").
Girl: "Hi ^_^ LOL"
Me: "Says literally anything"
Girl: "... ... ..."

I usually hate the "Alpha, Beta, Gamma" vernacular because I think it simplifies us all down to sounding like Neanderthals. But to use it...I don't feel Alpha when I'm chasing some random chicks online until my f*cking legs give out just to get a "HI ". It feels like a digital version of that b*tch-boy pseudo-gay-best-friend role you end up with in RL if you let girls lead you around on a leash.

I'd rather get rejected a bunch of times at the pub or something. At least that way I'm honing my brass balls a little more.

 

[MoreThanSmooth]

So for three months I've been thinking "God, I can't believe there are thousands of women on this website and not a SINGLE ONE has looked at my profile or liked me. WTF is going on? Is online dating really this bloody awful? Am I as attractive as a pug's rear end?"

Last night I browsed the site on my phone and noticed a new button that wasn't present on my computer.

"Your profile is currently hidden."

What the actual f***? How did that even happen? I unticked this tiny, camouflaged box and went to bed. Woke up this morning with 5 views and 4 matches.

FML...

 

[beforeimgone]

Hey fellas, just a quick question thread from me. What sort of photos do you like to go for when on Tinder/Bumble/OLD sites? And how do you actually go about getting a good source of photos?

Basically every bit of "advice" I've read online seems to be contradictory trash. One site will say "ALWAYS HAVE ANIMALS IN YOUR PHOTO" and the next will be "Animals in photos decrease matches by 30%."

I think I'm fortunate enough to be a reasonable looking lad and I'm in fair shape (not gym-freak huge or as lean as I want but I look fairly buff). It makes sense to me that I should be getting just as many matches as my mates, based off my pics. Nowhere near, though. Might be because I live out of town quite a way, but I'm fairly sure it's the photos I choose.

I'm not a narcissist so I don't take many photos of myself when I'm out places. Similarly, if I'm out with my friends, we're going to be drinking and chatting not taking cute photos of each other like a bunch of girls. I haven't travelled for years so I don't have any cool pictures of me doing hand-stands in front of the Taj Mahal or whatever.

That leaves me with a few mediocre pics of fairly boring outings or the option of taking cheesy selfies. I've tried Photofeeler to get a better answer from women and the results are usually bad. Often ~40% attractiveness, which seems appalling really but likely because some of them are selfies or awkwardly cropped.

If I go for an outdoors photo showing my body off a bit (tank top and shades) I get comments like "This guy looks arrogant". If I go for a pic of me smiling casually at a dinner I get "Great smile but this photo isn't sexy enough".

My normal smile that isn't a huge s***-eating grin is usually labelled as "seems a bit fake" or "smile seems a bit forced". Which is hilarious when my huge forced Cheshire-Cat psycho smile seems to get a more positive reception!

I've tried a smiling outdoor full body shot in good lighting at a sports stadium. Standard masculine hair cut. Described as "Bland environment." and "Would prefer a different hairstyle" (?!)

TL,DR:

Do your photos have to be absolutely exceptional and stunning pro photography level?

Do I have to be reclining topless (but not too topless!) witha lunatic's huge smile and soft focus in a Swedish Ski resort? Or am I overcomplicating and I just need a simple head shot with a blank background for my main pic?

Cheers chaps

Back from hiatus.

I have a few pics online and my most popular one is one where I'm just chilling on a couch. Be sure to look directly into the camera. Notice how I'm slightly out of shape. Chick's still say my body is heaven