My question is: can you guess which one was the most preferred, across all categories? Every self-identified category of person (except, curiously, "Guys aged 31+") seemed to prefer one of these pictures to the others. Conservatives liked it, as did "Girls aged 18-22". Nerds and Extroverts both liked it. Liberals and "Girls aged 31+" both didn't dislike it (although it wasn't very popular with those groups, it was more popular than the others).
Scroll down past the photos for the link to my full report...
What answer did you get?
It turns out that the sword-wielding guy in front of the bookcase is popular with self-identified extroverts, nerds and conservatives. Guys over 31 preferred the guitar photo (self-identified "overachievers" also least disliked the guitar, according to the survey).
I had honestly expected the brightly-lit bandanna-wearing outdoors guy to be the winner but apparently not.
You can look at the whole report from the survey here, where it's revealed that 23 out of 87 people picked one of my pictures over that of someone else (which suggests that there's maybe not a hugely reliable statistical inference to be drawn from these categorised results, but it's fun anyway).
I'd love for people to explain to me how come the pictures got ranked the way they did (bandanna guy finished LAST!) - did some pics get put up against absolute hotties while others were up against more plain individuals? Is it something to do with US culture (since most of the respondents seem to have been USAian)? Might it be that bandanna picture finished last purely because it's the only one where I'm wearing my glasses?
One last question for my dear readers: would you prefer this pic over the others?
I've never read your blog before (came over from Feministe), and don't know much about general trends on OK Cupid, but I think the sword picture tells the most about your personality. The pose and your facial expression-- raised eyebrow is great!-- would give me the impression that that you have a great sense of humor and don't take yourself/the whole online dating thing overly seriously. You look shyer and less sure of yourself in the others. It definitely would stand out, in a good way, from the other pictures you tend to see on sites like that!
ReplyDeleteHi, I just participated in 'My Best Face' 3 hours ago. I haven't received my results yet and I'm anxious to see the report. My favorite picture of you was the guitar shot. You're making excellent eye contact and if I were to see it on OKcupid it would lead me to believe that you are passionate about something, therefore an interesting person to go on a date with. The bandanna may have come in last because it doesn't appear to be very genuine... and it looks more like a scarf a grandmother would wear rather than an "outdoorsy guy" bandanna... just being honest ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was making choices, I leaned more toward the individuals who gave me the most information about them through their photo. The samurai shot shows your body, a clear shot of your face, and that you either have an interesting hobby or a great sense of humor, both of which were important to me as a "chooser".
As for the last shot, No one needs to see anyone sans clothes before they meet! Because it was taken with what appears to be a webcam... in the dark... without a shirt... it's a little too, how shall I say, Chatroulette-esque.
Any way you look at these photos, in the end, you appear to be a very nice person, and that's what truly matters. :)Thank you for posting!