The Dating Diaries: 5 dating app profile habits to avoid

When looking for love online it's best to steer clear of these five dating app profile habits . Photo / Getty Images

OPINION:

If you're thinking of hitting the dating apps before cuffing season is in full swing, there are a couple of things you will want to avoid doing.

But first, what the heck is cuffing season? In short, the weather gets colder and your dating app matches go up - it's the ultimate sign that hot girl summer is well and truly over and wife me up winter has commenced.

Lately, I've found myself swooning over the thought of joining Team Relationship and heading into the colder months with a lad keeping me warm instead of my loyal electric blanket.

So if like me you're a seasoned singleton who has palpitations about going into another winter alone, here are a couple of tips and tricks that might help you land your sexily ever after.

1.Stay away from generic pictures

After the amount of memes on social media about this topic you should all have levelled up by now but if you need another reminder, please keep the generic pictures off your profile. Lads, stay away from images of you holding up a fish. One glimpse at a trout and the gals are envisioning their Sundays spent cold, wet and bored and will swipe left without a second thought.

And for the ladies, I know the Instagram and Snapchat filters make you feel glam, but using them as your main picture on a dating app signal one of two things: You're insecure or you're a catfish.

It's time to boycott the filters. You are *chefs kiss* a natural beauty.

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2. Boring bios

You have a very limited amount of time to convince someone you're worth the swipe right which means you can't be stingy with your pitch. Kim Kardashian became a billionaire because she identified her best asset and used it to sell herself. Time for you to do the same.

If you want to avoid a dry inbox, stay away from bios like, "I don't know what to put here" and "here for a good time, not a long time". They make you seem too cool for dating apps and completely bypass anything about why you're a great potential fling like the fact you have a beaming personality!

"Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart." - The President of the United States and also me on Tinder.

— Philip J. Ellis (@Philip_Ellis) January 6, 2018

3. Don't lie about your stats

Based on the mountains of TikTok videos I've seen of people exposing men for lying about their height or age on dating apps, I'd suggest saving yourself the trouble and just being honest - or skipping the stat section altogether. Imagine how embarrassing it would be when you meet your match in person and have to explain why you're absolutely nothing like your photo. I'm getting secondhand embarrassment even thinking about it.

And let's not forget - short kings are in! Thank you Tom Holland.

4. Don't have stanky chat

Some people are fantastic at talking in person and some are brilliant over text. If you fall into the latter, godspeed to you my friend and remember, the secret to keeping a conversation going is answering a question with a question.

Forgo the blunt replies of "yes", "no" and "I guess" and indulge in an awkward initial chat. Sure, there are only so many ways you can make the general questions like "what do you do for a job?" sound cute, but come on Shakespeare, I know you've got the ability to make someone swoon over your words.

maybe in 2018 i’ll actually message my tinder matches instead of collecting them like pokemon cards

— ivan (@Ivanibr) January 2, 2018

5. Don't lie about what you want

Dating app experts are always drilling into us that successful real-life relationships from dating apps are due to people being honest about their intentions. If you're looking for a non-serious fling or hook up, state that in your bio. If you are looking for a serious relationship be honest about that too. You are on the app for a reason so don't be passive with your intentions. Be an assertive queen.

Whether or not you decide to troop through cuffing season alone or with the help of a sexy fling, remember the best way to date is by being your authentic, genuine, charming self and always have a little fun with it.