Unlike most online dating website and apps, Coffee Meets Bagel was founded by women. They are three sisters, in fact, who set out to create a more female friendly website that advertises quality not quantity. CMB offers only one, carefully vetted match proposition each day, which they pull from your Facebook universe–which means, as the sisters put it, “no randos.” At the stroke of noon, you are presented with a potential mate that you can study over your lunch break, and if you need to, the next 24 hours before deciding to like or pass. Recently, Dawoon Kang one of three sisters who founded the site, gave us some insider advice all of us can use about online profiles.
UNtied: What makes a good online profile photo?
Kang: Three photos at a minimum. One should be a clear headshot of you smiling (this says “I’m nice & friendly!). Photos where you are engaged in activities are also key – it says “I’m interesting!” Variety is key here – make sure you show the diverse, interesting sides of you! Different outfits, different poses, different settings. Show what your interests are. Also, be sure to include full-body shots, not just the face! Please – no mirror selfies, no blurry photos, no photos with sunglasses.
UNtied: What are some of the ways men and women differ online?
Kang: Straight women have a higher bar when it comes to dating apps and they care a lot about safety and quality. They tend to be a lot more conservative in terms of the type of people they LIKE. By that I mean they tend to like people who they share mutual friends with (no randos), of same race, religion, and school (it feels safer). Here is an interesting post we did on difference between men & women:
UNtied: What is more important, photos or answers to personality questions?
Kang: They are both important but photos are more important for straight women and gay guys, because guys in general are so visual – they react a lot more strongly to photos. We find that profiles with three photos are liked 31% more than profiles with one photo. However, detail is also important. When we looked at the profile length of our top 10% popular members, their profiles were 35% longer than the bottom 50% percentile members.
UNtied: Okay, now how do we game the system to you know, get the best uh, bagels?
Kang. Haha, I’m not sure if I want to share this.