Why online daters should not pick their own photos

DATERS are being warned not to choose their own profile picture if they want to find romance online.

Research has found that strangers are better at picking flattering images.

“People make poor choices when selecting flattering images of themselves for online profile pictures, which affects other people’s perception of them,” said Dr David White, lead author of the study from the Univer- sity of New South Wales in Sydney.

The researchers asked 102 students to select two out of 12 photos of their own face that they were most or least likely to use as a profile picture. Participants were then asked to do the same for 12 images of a randomly selected stranger.

Their choices were shown to a third group who were asked to rate the subjects.

They found the images people had selected for themselves made a less favourable impression.