The Biggest Dating Profile “Icks”, What To Lookout For!

A new Forbes Health survey polled 1,000 U.S. adults who have used a dating app within the last year. Collaborating with Talker Research the survey uncovered what the biggest “icks” (a modern dating term used to express information we deem unpleasant) are with dating profiles—and what makes someone more inclined to match.

Given that people have about two minutes to impress someone with their dating profile, what are the biggest “icks” to avoid? When asked which quality of a dating profile would make users more likely to choose not to match with a person, a whopping 70% of respondents pointed to negativity or bitterness in a profile bio being their biggest dealbreaker. This particular dating trait was the top ick for men (67%) and women (72%) respectively, and experts agree it’s one to avoid.

Flaunting material possessions and using altered or overly filtered photos also ranks in the top three red flags for both men and women, with 59% of men noting too much emphasis on material possessions as a reason they would not match with someone and  66% of women citing excessively edited images as an unappealing quality in a dating profile.

Lack of effort put into a person’s profile (60%) and poor grammar and spelling (60%) were also noted as undesirable profile features among respondents, and nearly 60% of survey participants said they wouldn’t match with a profile that portrayed the person as being overly confident. Meanwhile, 55% felt a profile with only group photos was the biggest downfall.