When it comes to Tindering, Hingeing or Bumbling, we’ve all seen the textbook “My ideal Friday night: tacos and margs” answer. While we can’t disagree on the timeless deliciousness of tacos and margaritas, it’s not worth the valuable prompt or bio space.
We’ve said it ten times, and we’ll put it here for one more good measure: your dating app bio is gold. Your prompts are another’s only real way of getting to know you better through a screen. As hard as it may be to come up with something original, it’s genuinely worth the extra brain power and creativity when you match with someone special.
So, in an effort to draw attention to repeat-offender prompt answers, here are the top 9 overused phrases on dating apps. (If you currently use one of these bad boys, this is your light push to swap it up!)
#1. *Insert Instagram handle here and absolutely nothing else*
You’re essentially selling singles the extended warranty on a car they don’t even know if they want to buy yet. Plus, it feels like you’re just trying to rack up Instagram followers rather than make a connection.
Instead:
Start a conversation that’s engaging enough that you decide to swap socials. Use the recent photos you’ve cleared for Instagram on your dating apps because if your followers loved them, we’re sure a potential match will too! If you’re not trusting your friends’ judgment, we’ve got you covered with a social or dating photo test!
#2. “My kids are my world.”
We’re already asking ourselves if you’ve got room in your life for us when you start on this foot. It makes things a bit too serious and lacks substance because we haven’t even connected yet. It’s worded so cliche that it’s glazed over and has lost its real meaning.
Instead:
Talk about your other hobbies or things that a new person can facilitate a conversation with. When you drop “parent to two boys” in a list with other things you’re passionate about, it works.
#3. “Make me laugh.”
This is Bumble, not a comedy show.
Instead:
Try to set people up to spark a chat with a question and invitation like “Are you a dad joke, sarcastic, or dark-humor person? Give me your best take.” You’re still asking people to initiate with effort, but it’s less direct and demanding so you’ll get more messages.
#4. “I just love adventures!”
Adventures these days can mean so many different things so be careful what you wish for. An adventure could be anything from underwater knitting to a full-scale 5-day hike in the wilderness. It’s not specific enough.
Instead:
Fill people in with clarifying information about the exact type of adventure you’re seeking. Are you into wilderness snowboarding, or is your idea of adventures driving across the country while being chased by the police?
List some of your hobbies or let your photos do the talking and use this space for other things that aren’t as quickly communicated in pics.
#5. “Swipe left if you’re not emotionally intelligent.”
You’re looking for emotional intelligence, and we’re looking for the rest of your bio.
What does this mean to you, and how realistically can you gauge a stranger’s emotional intelligence without meeting in person?
Instead:
Practice what you preach and have photos on your profile that exude the qualities you’d like in a future partner. List more specific things that you value because this saying has now been overused as much as “live, laugh, love.”
#6. “Good time, not a long time.”
If you’re not looking for something serious, just say so. This isn’t really direct enough. From a female standpoint, it screams that you’re just looking out for yourself sexually, and that’s a turn-off. This is not coming across the way you think it is.
Instead:
We can’t believe we’re recommending this, but “not looking for anything serious” is better because at least you’re being direct and not cliche or sexually selfish.
#7. “Family is everything.”
This is one of those moments when actions speak louder than words. You’ll find the same to be true about the “no drama” and “I’m a nice guy” signature lines.
Instead:
Tell us something about your family that’s off-the-wall, or even better, save that artillery for messaging to have some ice-breaking conversation topics.
#8. *insert random NatGeo fact*
Steve Irwin didn’t release five seasons of The Crocodile Hunter just for everyone to talk about otters holding hands.
How do we reply to this, and how did this fact go viral on every dating app?
Instead:
Here we’d recommend another setup for conversation; try an unusual fact set-up like: “Did you know koalas won’t eat eucalyptus if you serve it on a plate? What’s your favorite meal to pretend to hate if served without manual labor?” Boom, instant followup opportunity.
#9. “Tacos and margaritas!”
Do you remember the famous song “Escape” by Rupert Holmes?
Let us refresh your memory… If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.
Anyways, that song has around 520 million plays on Spotify, so it’s safe to say everybody loves pina coladas and getting caught in the rain. The same is said about tacos and margaritas– there are zero differentiating factors here. It’s not a decent filtration system because everyone loves tacos and margaritas.
Instead:
Drop your favorite food to make at home and leave us wanting more. “I make a mean lasagna.” Do you Jeff? We would love to know, and now we’ll be up all night dreaming about lasagna.
And don’t even get us started on overused dating app photos.
If dating app photos were the Winter Olympic Games, shirtless men with fish would be figure skating, women with only selfie pics would be ski jumping, and the giant but ambiguous friend group huddle would be snowboarding. Now, this isn’t us venting; we just see these snaps a lot, and they hardly ever land as well as users intend them to.
Over here at Photofeeler, we’ve got best-selling profile photos down to a science (literally!) Snap a few pics of yourself and get testin’ on Photofeeler!
Not ready yet to get feedback on your photos? No sweat! Help others understand how they’re coming across by rating user photos.