What (Not) to Post

So having gone through over 1,000 fish in the e-harmony sea, I have seen my fair share of good and bad catches (unfortunately mostly bad, but hey, I only need to find one good match and the rest make for good stories, right?)

What one writes in a profile is one thing (I will write more about that later when I highlight the suitor of the month) but a picture is worth 1,000 words isn't it? So wouldn't you think there would be some care when choosing one? So the following is my advice to the men out there.

5 Things not to post for your profile picture:

5. Wearing sunglasses or a hat in all of the photos. OK seriously, don't you think I know you are trying to hide something? I am not judgemental, I just don't want to be deceived. Besides, only rockstars should wear sunglasses indoors, but never during an interview, that is shady.

4. A self portrait taken in the mirror. At least show a little effort and ask a friend to take your picture. (side note: I have even personally known someone to get dressed up at work so a coworker could take his picture for his profile. He tried to hide the fact that he was dressed differently than normal after 5 people said he looked nice and asked if he had a meeting to attend. But kudos to him for effort.)

3. A shirtless self portrait in front of the mirror. No matter how good looking you think you are any shirtless picture is just simply gross and tacky. Unless you truly love the beach, and the photo is taken at the beach, you should never ever post a shirtless photo of yourself.

2. A shirtless photo from your webcam. The previous photo was tacky, this type of photo is just plain old creepy. Creepy McCreepster creepy. The only thought that runs through a sane woman's head when seeing this type of photo is internet porn freak and possible pedophile. Run far, far away from this dude.

1. The number one worst profile picture is actually the inspiration for this post. I have never seen one like this before, ever. At first glance it appeared ok, I questioned the location, but he was fully clothed so it seemed alright but upon further investigation it got worse and worse and worse. Imagine this: a man wearing jeans, Rutgers long sleeve shirt, and shoes lying on his side, one hand on his upper thigh, the other hand holding the remote control and leaning on his elbow on a bed. The pose was not George Costanzaesque at all, he was just casually lying on the bed watching tv before someone said "smile for the camera." Now looking at the details, the bed is unmade, clearly in a hotel (quintessential twin reading lamps on each side of the bed, headboard fastened to the wall, and typical carpeting), and there is a pink satin thing at the end of the bed. The only thing that wasn't visible was a wedge pillow. Now seriously, I am not expecting or even wanting a man with zero experience, but I don't think a photo showing evidence of a sexcapade should A) be made public or B) be used on what is supposed to be the #1 trusted relationship site.

Eek!