Is it time to change your profile photo?

How often do you update your profile photo? I have to admit that I don’t really like having my photograph taken so when I find a photo of me that I actually like I tend to stick with it until the next photo I like comes along!

I was really surprised (and happy!) that according to a new survey from BidVine the average social media profile pic is at least two years old, so it would seem I am not alone! It’s funny that we tweet, instagram or update Facebook multiple times a day but we don’t update our profile which represents who we are in the digital world.

The survey asked 2,000 social media and online dating users in the UK just how up to date their profile photos were with some really interesting results! Online dating apps like Tinder and Grindr were the most likely to have updated photos with changes roughly every two to three weeks, which to me makes sense as you want to show your potential date how fun (and gorgeous) you are.

Funnily enough, when looking at dating websites, rather than apps, there is a very different trend with users of sites like Plenty of Fish keeping the same profile photo for over three years, and users of Match on average changing their photo every four years! I wonder if this is a symptom of the types of people who use dating sites vs those who use dating apps.

When it comes to social media the results showed that Facebook and Instagram users change their profile photos less frequently than dating apps at around once every five to six months. I am definitely one of those people as I stick to one nice photo for a long time – probably more like a year or two, which according to marginalia online seems to be common.

The research also discovered that a quarter of people would not want their boss to see their current Facebook profile picture and shockingly 11% of those polled said that their profile photos were taken more than 10 years ago! I feel a bit better about using a photograph only a couple of years old!

When asked about their profile photo changing habits 62% of those polled admitted that they struggled to find pictures they were happy with – just like me – while 49% said they wanted to appear younger on their profiles.

Here is the run down for platform and the average frequency of changing of profile photo for that platform:

1. Grindr – 2 weeks

2. Tinder – 3 weeks

3. WhatsApp – 2.5 months

4. Facebook – 5 months

5. Instagram – 6 months

6. SnapChat – 8 months

7. Twitter – 1.8 years

8. LinkedIn – 2.1 years

9. Plenty of Fish – 3.2 years

10. Match – 4 years

When did you last update your profile picture?

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