Science says: Let a stranger pick your profile picture.

If you want to look your best in your profile picture, research says you should leave the decision to a stranger.

When scientists in Australia studied the profile picture selection process, they found many of us make poor decisions.  When strangers were allowed to choose a person's profile picture, the images scored better first impressions.

"Previous work has shown that people make inferences about an individual's character and personality within a split second of seeing a photograph of their face, so our results have clear practical implications," David White, a researcher at the University of New South Wales, said in a news release.  "If you want to put your best face forward, it makes sense to ask someone else to choose your picture."

Mr. White and his colleagues asked 102 students to pick two out of 12 images of themselves, pictures they would be most and least likely to use as a profile pic on various online networks -- social, dating, and professional networks.  The same participants were then asked to select images for a stranger's profile pics.

The results -- detailed in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications -- showed participants tended to select pictures that properly emphasized the personality traits appropriate for each type of online network.  

So, basically that means your chances are better for using a good profile picture if you let someone else pick it.




Source:  UPI.com