Online Dating

Is Hatfishing the New Catfishing?

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man smiling with hat on

First, there was “catfishing,” a term that went internationally viral following the release of the MTV show Catfish.

Catfishing occurs virtually when an online user steals another person’s photos and pretends to be them online. There are loads of various ways this plot thickens, but at the main core, you’re just pretending to be someone else.

With major developments in AI, people have started using Lensa-AI filtered images of themselves as their profile pictures or “filter-fishing.” Although this isn’t morally as wrong as stealing another person’s identity, it’s not a clear parallel to how you look in person.

Hatfishing is a toss-up for us. We can see both sides and feel there’s an easy solution by simply diversifying your dating app photos.

What is “Hatfishing”?

Hatfishing happens when you never show the top of your head in any of your photo slots or always wear a hat. This leaves matches wondering:

Do you have hair?

Is it a mohawk?

What’s cooking under the cap?

Leave the mystery to your first date, and drop at least one un-hatted photo to your profile. You’ll know your date is attracted to your looks, and there won’t be any lead-up for disappointment.

the rock taking off his hat

But what if the hat is hiding a bald spot?

For this, we reference a popular Dr. Seuss quote, “Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

Confidence is key. It’s not that you can’t put hat photos on your dating profile, just don’t make every photo a hat photo. Find which bald photo ranks best on Photofeeler!

Two solutions to being a hatfisher:

1. Take off the cap, proudly!

If you’re sporting a full head of hair, show it off!

If you’re not rocking with full follicle foliage, still work it!

Being bald isn’t a bad thing, so don’t be ashamed of your noggin. Own it! Confidence is the key to anything with looks and attractiveness. It’s what makes or breaks a photo.

Test some photo angles to find your sweet spot.

2. Try a regenerative hair loss product.

Life’s too short to be anything but confident; so if hair loss has got you down, there are modern-day solutions that got you covered.

We recommend checking out Hims or Keeps. Both sites offer a customized survey so you’ll be matched with the right products for you.

Other ways you might be faking out your online matches:

1. Every photo has sunglasses.

man with yellow sunglasses

What color are your eyes? We wouldn’t know.

2. All photos have some sort of Instagram or Snapchat filter.

girl using dog filter while holding kitten

Speaking of which, Plenty of Fish banned all profile photos using filters after revealing that 75% of online dating users found filters to be deceptive of someone’s natural appearance.

That dog face filter that was popular back in 2013? Yeah, no can do.

3. You have the same photos with the same person, is this a double date?

If your prospective matches can’t distinguish you between your bestie in a few seconds, they’ll move on.

“I’m the one on the left,” isn’t good enough.

Hats off to you, bald baddies!

jason statham posing

Do you think Jason cares about being bald in dating app photos? No way!

You shouldn’t either, you bald baddie!

Now get out there and find your next best, un-hatted profile picture with Photofeeler!

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