Profiled

Personality Catfishing: Is Your Online Presence the Same as IRL?

outgoing girl with peace sign at cafe

First things first, are you personality catfishing? Or have you recently been a victim of a personality hit-and-run?

Allow us to set the stage.

You just matched on a dating app. The conversation flows well, the banter is there, and everything seems to go off without a hitch.

You move to texting; same energy, same effort, same vibe. Excellent!

Together, you lock in a time and place for the first date, so you’re feeling pumped! This is gonna go great, right? What can go wrong?

You arrive at the date, introduce yourself, and shortly realize this person in front of you acts like nothing like they did over the phone. Yikes!

We present to you… a personality catfish!

What are some ways that people personality catfish?

Catfishing comes in all shapes and sizes, but it’s not always intentional.

People might not realize that their online persona and IRL persona don’t equate. Now is it your place to tell them this? Well, we’ll leave that up to you.

Here are three signs you’ve hooked a personality catfish or are one yourself:

1. “I’m so shy!”

There are two sides to every coin, and photos don’t always do people’s personalities justice.

Photos are but a freeze frame of a moment. Out of 100 photos, usually around ten or fewer really capture us the way we want.

The main goal of photos on dating apps is to provide a glimpse into who you are and your personality before you meet up with potential matches.

Sporty? Rock a jersey.

Life of the party? Bring the energy in your pics!

Bookworm? Snap a pic of you reading your fave classic.

The closer you can get to capturing your IRL essence in a photo- the better!

Check how you’re coming across in your prof pic in minutes!

2. Your profile preferences don’t match up with IRL preferences.

Transparency in the dating scene saves you and your match valuable time, energy, and money.

Your bio is your voice outside of the profile photo lineup– use this space to describe yourself outside of the app.

Do you love salsa music and dancing? Write this down because it provides excellent date ideas plus a chance to show your match your skills. But be ready to walk your talk if your date takes you for a dance.

Just as well, whatever you put in your bio preferences should align with your IRL preferences…

Don’t say you’re looking for something serious if you’re not ready for commitment. Daters take bios at face value, so be honest here! Then, matches will flock to you if interests and vibe correlate.

3. “I’m not a good texter.”

Communication varies from person to person. Nobody’s asking for perfection; they’re asking for effort.

If you’re talkative, outgoing, and eccentric, but texting dry, one-word answers that make the Sahara Desert jealous– your date is bound to be confused.

Try your best, especially with new peeps, to come across in text as you would in person, as much as possible.

Match your photos with your vibe for better dates!

Your friends shouldn’t choose your profile pictures either… I know, I know, disappointing. But, it’s true!

However, a bunch of neutral, unbiased people on the internet? That’s a better way to get answers.

In fact, that’s our forte.

Check out how you’re coming across on dating apps, social media, or professional profiles with Photofeeler!