Dating apps have turned love into business, those who are ready to swipe right and left to find the perfect match (and statistics say 74% of respondents only use dating sites, among millennials and millennials) become skilled marketers, and we turn our profiles into personal branding. .
Romance marketing killed the latter – so user flow became a showcase and precise calculation instead of passion and emotions became the cornerstone.
However, there is good news – in 2022 the age of catfishing (when someone tries to look better on the Web than they do in life) has finally left its usefulness behind, replaced by its flip side, and now it’s not glossy pictures. Strange photos that are in high esteem, but have been gathering dust on your film for a long time in anticipation of possibly their finest hour.
The trend of life pictures on the web is called “reverse catfishing,” and its essence is to show yourself from the right side. That is why on dating apps you can see funny photos of people who do not have perfect abs or expensive cars and trips to Dubai, but sometimes blink, talk or have fun at a music festival in the rain and without makeup.
For what? Allegedly, to pleasantly surprise your virtual interlocutor in a personal meeting and already in life, it turned out to be better than your own profile.
“I want to show different sides of myself, so I have some serious photos of myself smiling or doing my hobbies, and then some silly pictures like dancing or making silly faces. James, 23, told Dazed, “I’m trying to find someone who doesn’t take life too seriously, especially on social media. “And the trend of digital anarchy without rules resonates with the BeReal app, the main feature of which is a photo here and now when you get a notification on your phone.
The same Dazed calls what has been going on on social networks over the past few years as user over-monitoring of their profiles.
In just ten years, a factory has been opened to produce excellent content from random photos with Valencia and Hudson filters on Instagram*, with the concepts of aesthetics and a beautiful feed. People no longer want a selfie from the gym or a report of what you ate for breakfast – they want a photo of you screaming in horror on a roller coaster or dressing up as Shrek for Halloween.
For example, in Dating Apps: The Uncertainty of Market Love by researchers Carolina Bandinelli and Alessandro Gandini, the authors argue that, when faced with endless possibilities, dating app users prefer to rely on features that can “set them apart from a wide variety of competitors”. all too often people post weird photos to avoid following trends – it’s more of a way to show your potential partner, for example, that you’re eating pineapple pizza or you’re in love with Harry Potter.
And although neither catfishing nor “catfishing on the contrary” make it possible to know for sure a person on the other side of the screen, the latter add to the charm of online dating, and if modern users are not yet able to transfer romance offline, then be more honest with yourself and others on the Web – completely.
* Considered extremist and banned in Russia.
Source: People Talk
I’m Roger Gritton, and I’ve been writing for the The Fashion Vibes for over 5 years now. My specialty is beauty news; I’m passionate about covering the latest trends, products, and innovations in the industry. In my time there, I’ve become known as an authority on all things beauty-related.
I love discovering new experts to interview, researching up-and-coming ingredients and techniques that are making their way onto our beauty shelves and highlighting people who are making a difference in the world of cosmetics. My work has appeared not only on The Fashion Vibes, but also several other publications including the New York Times Magazine, Allure Magazine and Refinery29.
