Welcome to the world of online dating! It’s filled with creeps, inappropriate comments and of course the worst of all, ‘Catfish’. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade, a ‘Catfish’ is someone who according to Urban Dictionary.com ‘pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances’. Nobody wants to get catfished, and you don’t want to come across as a catfish to potential matches. So here at Oxygen.ie we’ve compiled a list of ways to not come across as a catfish on Tinder:
1) Bio:
As tempting as it is to be super vague and mysterious in your tinder bio, give a poor critter a chance. Leave some crumbs about who you are and what you’re into, maybe mention what college you’re in or link up your Instagram to show you’re not some creepy middle aged guy chilling in his mom’s basement trying to waste people’s time.
2) Pictures:
Number one rule of online dating, don’t use one picture use a few. For instance, if you only have one photo on your profile red flags will pop up, why is this person so mysterious, this has to be too good to be true, swipes left. And all you’ll be left with are other catfish and nobody has time for that. So please add a few pictures. Also it helps if you can prove you have friends by including a few group photos
3) Don’t Lead On Anyone:
A trademark of the stereotypical ‘catfish’ is to make plans and then bail on them. For example, agreeing to meet up for coffee and cancelling at the last minute, or rearranging plans multiple times and failing to show up. If you are interested in someone show up when you make plans or reschedule, the important thing is that you don’t lead on anyone by pretending you’re interested when you’re really not.
4) Don’t Make Excuses:
Catfish are known for their elaborate back stories, excuses and more. Can’t facetime? Or talk on the phone? Can’t meet up for a date? It looks like you’re hiding something and to your potential match out there its not a good sign.
Aileen O’Leary