It’s an exciting and stressful time to be single. We have the world at our fingertips— literally. With the swipe of a finger, anyone can accept or reject a potential mate. All any single guy or gal has to do is take a few pictures of him or herself, write a quick bio and upload it to a dating app of their choosing— Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Dig, Plenty of Fish (there are so many now).

How we pick and choose our photos and how we feel about ourself on our profile says a lot about how we date.

Dian de Vries, from Utrecht University found that the time between making our profile and waiting for a message from a potential suitor is where our self-esteem shines or dulls, which influences if we actually want to go on a date or not.

De Vries conducted an experiment with 100 single, heterosexual females. Every participant set up their own online dating profile and were told they would either meet their match in person or their match would message them.

Dating profiles, expectations and self-esteem

Turns out, individuals are way more excited to get a message online from a handsome stranger than they are to actually go on a date in person. Those who were only communicating with their match over text reported having high self-esteem and a positive impression about their dating profile and their own desirability.

Building a dating profile as a rebellious act of self-love

It’s exciting to create a dating profile. You pick your favorite photos of yourself, the ones that make you feel really good and create a witty bio that shows off your personality. It’s easy to see how your self-esteem could skyrocket after setting up a collage of your best self. Dating apps have been around long enough now where all of our pictures, bios and swipes can reveal a pattern in how the general public dates. Now, you can see which types of photos actually get the most matches.

There’s data behind that. Well, online dating app, Hinge, ran a photo study, examining over 1,000 member profiles to see which photos received positive feedback and which ones fell flat.

Here’s what they found:

• Include a picture of yourself participating in a sport. Users with sports photos were 75% more likely to get a like.

• Don’t obstruct your face with hair, sunglasses or Selfie filters. People who had some sort of clothing or filter on their face weren’t as successful in getting a match.

• The most epic fail? Don’t upload a picture with someone who may be perceived as a significant other.

• Skip the beach photos. Women are 47% less likely to receive a like on a beach photo, while men were 80% less likely to get some love from the beach.

• Keep those selfies on Snapchat. Selfies are 40% less likely to get any feedback and bathroom photos are 90% less likely!

While these are just stats from Hinge’s extensive member-base, if you have a beach photo or selfie that you absolutely love, upload it! It’s all about feeling confident and trying new experiences, maybe you’ll meet someone or maybe you’ll say it’s not for you!