Top Ten Lies In Online Dating Profiles

If you’ve been disappointed by more than a few dates after agreeing to meet up with someone you found on an online dating site, you’ll know that it’s pretty common for people to lie on a dating profile. In fact, studies have shown that around 80% lie about their age, height or weight.

Top 10 Lies In Online Dating ProfilesSo never get excited about anyone before you meet face to face and get to know them.

Show up for every date with an open mind, intend to have a good time (a positive attitude is important) and then see what happens. Your date may very well be one of the 20% or so who are 100% honest.

And be as honest yourself as you’d like your date to be. While you want to present yourself in a good light, there’s no point in massaging the truth too much. For one thing, you don’t want your date’s face to fall when they see you. And for another, lying is not a good way to start a relationship.

According to Woman’s Day magazine article, these are the ten most common lies in online dating profiles.

1

Height

Men are more likely to lie about height than women as so many women prefer tall men. Perhaps they think you’ll be so bowled over by their personality when they arrive, you won’t notice they lost a few inches from their online profile height or that you won’t care that you tower over them in your four-inch heels you thought were safe to wear.

2

Weight

Women are more guilty than men when it comes to lying about weight. They subtract an average of 8.5lbs and men just 1.5lbs. I’m not sure why dating sites even have weight as a question. An up-to-date picture tells so much more than a weight on the scales, though people have also been know to upload pics of themselves at their lightest and be much heavier when they show up.

3

Physique

The majority of men describe themselves as athletic and toned, but if his activities and photos don’t match his description don’t believe the words. Women will have more success if the body type they tick matches their picture too. Guys love all kinds of body types so there’s no point in lying. You want the person who is naturally attracted to you.

4

Age

A third of men and 17% women lie about their age, often so that they come up in more age-range searches. I would like to say that this is a bad idea, but if you are talking about taking off a couple of years, are young for your age and come clean in the first few dates, it may be worth the risk. One of my good friends married a guy who was just outside her age range online. He came clean on the first date and said it was because he was so keen to meet her. They have been happily married for 4 years now.

5

Income

Studies have found guys embellish their salaries between twenty and forty percent, but don’t think it’s something that should be posted on a dating profile anyway. Let the money diggers go elsewhere.

6

Job

42% men and 32% women lie about job type or title. Men are more likely to promote themselves and women to demote themselves in case their career scares guys away.

7

Lifestyle

One in twenty people make themselves more exciting by faking the extent of their travels and another one in twenty (perhaps the same ones!) the type of car they drive. If their chat doesn’t back up what they say, they are probably trying to make themselves more exciting than they are. Much better to go for someone who actually is exciting (in your eyes) than someone who has so little confidence in his ability to interest you that he has to lie.

8

Hobbies And Interests

Few people lie completely about their hobbies and interests (there would be no point) but profiles rarely say whether an activity is something your potential date does every week or is something they’ve done once in their life, so if there is something ambiguous like that and it’s important to you, find out more by using the messaging system.

9

Connections To Celebrities

A survey by BeautifulPeople.com found that 3.3% people lied in their profile about knowing celebrities and 3.7% lied by saying they met them through work. This type of lie is completely pointless, but reflects the effects of our celebrity-driven culture these days.

10

Photographs

Profile photos are often misleading due to camera angle, focus or poor lighting or they may be altered through digital editing to make the pictures more flattering. At the every least, everyone puts their best pictures up there and so your date may be a disappointment in real life, though not everyone is photogenic so they may actually look better than their pictures.

With all lying going on, you may be forgiven for thinking every online date will turn out to be a big dud. But surprisingly, it is not so. One in five people will meet their future spouse that way. Perhaps that’s the 20% not lying! You just have to take the rough with the smooth. It is a bit of a numbers game. Date five guys and they might all be lying and not a patch on who you thought they were, date a hundred and there will be around twenty guys that are exactly as you expected.

See the original Woman’s Day article here.

Over to you: What would you be tempted to lie about in an online dating profile? Have you met people who were nothing like you expected them to be? Please share in the comments below.

Image Credit: © Depositphotos.com/fotoscool

18 Responses to “Top Ten Lies In Online Dating Profiles”

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  1. Love this post Ana! Awesome tips on that lies that are on online dating profiles! So true! Thank you for sharing another valuable post!
    Joan Harrington recently posted…How To Use SlideShare for Your Business

  2. KG says:

    What an interesting post!
    People are so weird so how can you really find someone on online dating sites when most people are just lying about one thing or another?
    Great article and insight. So glad I’m married!!

    Keep in Touch(ed),
    KG
    http://www.kgstyleinc.com

    • Ana says:

      Thanks for your comment KG. I’m glad I’m married too, but I’m sure I would give this option a go if I was single as well as meeting people out and about of course. So many of my friends have met people online, it can’t be all bad πŸ™‚
      Ana recently posted…Love Bets To Spice Things Up

  3. Misty Spears says:

    This is to spot on. When I met my husband online and then met him for the first time, I was actually quite surprised. Honestly, I thought he looked like a punk when I met him. LOL Luckily, that was just his style and not how he acted but definitely not what I was expecting. 6 years later…I’ve taught him to dress much nicer. πŸ™‚
    Misty Spears recently posted…Hemp Heart Side Effects

  4. Wow, not sure what is accomplished by lying on your profile. The truth will be discovered sooner or later and then you will develop a bad reputation, how will that help in the long run? Great post!
    Miriam Slozberg recently posted…Spreading the Influence with Kevin Snow

    • Ana says:

      Thanks for your comment Miriam. I think people believe they will get to date a wider selection of people than they might otherwise attract, and it is true they do, but the chances of the date not going well (because they are different from the way they painted themselves) are high.
      Ana recently posted…Love Bets To Spice Things Up

  5. Great list of tip! If someone listed that new a celebrity it would be a quick turn-off. Whether bragging or fibbing.
    Marilyn Thompson recently posted…Top 10 Motivational Quotes for Writers by Writers

  6. Bonnie Gean says:

    I’m old school. Online dating is something I would never do, but I understand others aren’t as stifled in their willingness to meet someone and do meet others through the net. For me, I prefer the natural way of meeting people – through acquaintances and not through a website. πŸ™‚
    Bonnie Gean recently posted…Why I Think You Should Consider Easy Sketch Pro

  7. Jan Kearney says:

    I’m happily single and haven’t even considered a dating site – perhaps I am too old school like Bonnie πŸ™‚
    My daughter is a different kettle of fish, she has one on her phone that beeps when a matching man is in range.
    Jan Kearney recently posted…Using Facebook For Local Business Ҁ“ 10 Top Tips for Getting Started

    • Ana says:

      Thanks for your comment Jan. That app your daughter has sounds a bit like Tinder. No wonder people can’t drag themselves away from their smartphones if the man of their dreams might be “beeping” any minute, but while women are busy looking at a screen, real men are wandering past and being ignored. Such irony! LOL
      Ana recently posted…Top 10 Times Men Are More Likely To Cheat

  8. Oh yes – I have been a victim of the Photo, Height lies. The photo was a side profile black and white shot. I learned that everyone looks good in a side profile black and white shot. lol

    One point that wasn’t mentioned in that Womans Day article – Marital Status!!!!! a lot of men (and women I am sure) lie about that one. πŸ™‚
    Victoria Virgo recently posted…Time to Make Money with Halloween Niche Sites

  9. Salma says:

    Interesting list Ana. I can definitely see why those are the top things people would fib about. You want to seem like your best self and maybe a little white lie will get you the date and then in person they’ll overlook it and realize what a great person you are πŸ™‚
    Salma recently posted…Three Things Thursday – Favourite Eats

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