Is it possible I'm shadow banned on Tinder or are my pictures THAT bad..?

[Zoro]

I gave up on online game. But I think it's time I figure out what the issue is with my results online.

My online profiles seem to get very little response. I don't think it's my openers or my profile, so I think it's either my pictures or I am shadow banned somehow.

I tried to reset my profiles, even going as far as making a new facebook for Tinder, and yet I still get no desirable matches.

I don't think my pictures are THAT bad, but they aren't great.

Either way I'm going to need better pictures, but I do not know how to get better pictures. Some of my pictures were actually taken by a photographer specifically for online dating. Yet those did not perform well either. Guys I'm not a mishapen shrek, I'd say I'm half decent looking.

I don't know where to start, so here I am asking the forum for ideas to get the ball rolling.

Looking to use Tinder and POF, but I've been so long out of the loop with online that maybe there are better apps/sites.

 

[Zoro]

By the way, reason I thought I was shadow banned was years ago I would swipe on everyone, until I found out that Tinder punishes users in the background for that by shadow banning their profiles and lowering their secret rating.

 

[ulrich]

Are you getting matched with girls you don’t really like or no girls at all?

I would suggest paying for Tinder plus at least once and find out what kind of girls are liking your profile.

In my experience there are really no stunners in Tinder (those gorgeous girls you see are either inactive or abandoned profiles) and if you’re somewhat selective, it’s common to get few to no matches.

 

[Zoro]

Are you getting matched with girls you don’t really like or no girls at all?

very few matches, with unattractive girls. I think a shadow ban means your profile is only shown to low rated profiles.

I would suggest paying for Tinder plus at least once and find out what kind of girls are liking your profile.

I did that awhile back. I think I actually had a few cute matches and had a date with one. I'm going back and forth in my head on whether it's a shadow ban or just bad pics.

In my experience there are really no stunners in Tinder (those gorgeous girls you see are either inactive or abandoned profiles) and if you’re somewhat selective, it’s common to get few to no matches.

Yeah I know that's expected, but right now the few matches I'm getting aren't even worth meeting up with wearing beer goggles. I don't really check tinder anymore, but it was like 1 "like" per week or two. I could see the number of likes go up, just not who they were

 

[ulrich]

I did that awhile back. I think I actually had a few cute matches and had a date with one. I'm going back and forth in my head on whether it's a shadow ban or just bad pics.

I’d go with not really that many attractive women active in the app in your location.

Look, if you’re handsome and have good pics, you should at least get a few matches from attractive women.
They may not reply your messages, they may not go out with you, they may not even login ever again but at the very least you should match from time to time… it’s a simple swipe… effort is null.

If you don’t even get that is likely because the ratio of attractive to unattractive girls is abysmal.

 

[DoWhatWorks]

I don't think my pictures are THAT bad, but they aren't great.

You can get objective feedback by using Photofeeler. Keep experimenting with photos until you get a ranking of 8+

 

[Teevster]

Decent pics don't cut it. And this was when I first tried Tinder in an era where Tinder was populare. Very few matches, and rarely with attractive girls. Response rate was low. This was in copenhagen where meeting through Tinder is somewhat normalized, during an era where Tinder was still somewhat decent.

I am not ugly, but I had average pictures at best.

Eventually, I asked the photographer of my favourite club to take a shoot of me (professionally) and with cool clothes and all. The amount of matches skyrocketed.

Now with the same pics, but living in a place where Tinder is less populare, in an era where Tinder gas drastically fallen off I get occasional matches despite amazing pictures.

If you ave average pics, you won't get anywhere. Simple as that.

The competition on Tinder is just so high, (like 75% men...) and all results are concentrated on a small demographic of (usually good looking) men, with very good pictures (always the case). So you, with your meh pictures won't get far for sure with all this in mind.

-Teevster

 

[Skills]

If you are getting matches in bumble and hinge but not on tinder, you are shadow banned, and is no the pics in this scenario... if you started with shitty pics from the go now you are fucked if tinder initial feedback says you are 5 you will only with 5 and below(shadow banned). you need a different sim card or phone and start from 0 in that case.

 

[Regal Tiger]

Definitely bad pics. Average = shitty, just like in a marriage. Average is always shit

Could be the area as well, but definitely the pics

And sadly, as a fan of online it has definitely gone downhill. But it's not so far gone just yet in my opinion

 

[Zoro]

Lots of good stuff here. Thanks guys.

Seems like this is what it boils down to:

Decent pics don't cut it.

Haven't got around to getting good pictures because it's such a pain in the ass. I'm the type of guy to go to a new country and not take any pictures.

I've got a friend who's good with cameras in the city I'm moving back to soon. We go on adventures sometimes too, I'll make sure we capture some good moments and also tell him the intention is to make me look fucking sexy for my profile.

You can get objective feedback by using Photofeeler. Keep experimenting with photos until you get a ranking of 8+

Will use this too.

Is online game worth the effort?

Seems like from your recent post @DoWhatWorks that you have noticed that online is pretty effective. So I'll take that as a yes and do the damn thing right this time.

 

[HammerEditor]

I'm going to start my adventure into online game in 2 weeks once my photoshoot comes back. I will get them rated then choose the 5-6 best shots. Will report back

 

[Regal Tiger]

Post your pics here as well using imgur

Also a not-so-secret-secret of photography: you'll take like 100 photos just to get 1 good one. Whenever I go out to get a good Tinder photo I'm out for 2-3 hours just for that one photo. Then I'll repeat that process and I know what I'm doing when it comes to both photography and Tinder

You're not going to get what you need in an afternoon

You miiiiiight get better than average. But you're not going to get what you need until you take this seriously

Online dating is basically a system where you put in a fuckload of work upfront and then sit on your ass collecting the rewards later (rewards being setting up easy dates because then real life stuff takes over)

If you have Chase's One Date System then check the bonus section. I wrote a book that walks you through the how, what and the why of everything

 

[POB]

I second @Teevster and @Skills advice.

If you started with meh pictures, the AI has already put you behind and there's nothing you can do at this point.
Buy a new sim card and start anew with professional pictures (1-5, but 3 is the magic number).

I've been taking professional pics recently for my business and it's a night and day difference!!!

​

Here's the complete rundown on what does work for getting the best pics:

IMPORTANT: Book sessions with 2-3 photographers to develop a good usable set for online dating use. Not all professionals are the same. Some work best on studio, others outdoors, some use natural light, other prefer artificial. It's always good to get at least 2 opposite styles and use the best of them.

No. 1 Shop for a photographer
You should start shopping for a photographer right now, because they may not be available when you need them... their next availability could be out in a month from now.

Shop on yelp, google, etc... (I've heard Instagram, but no experience personally).

They should have a portfolio online, review it and see if they have experience with the kind of photo you want to have.

When you contact them, you should already have an idea of what you want to achieve... style? how many outfits? types of outfits? outdoors, indoors? backdrops?

To help you figure this out, read EVERY post in the following blog that talks about pics:
https://blog.photofeeler.com/online-dating/

They have all kinds of scientific research regarding taking best photos for professional, social media and dating.

Now with the photographer, I would recommend against mentioning your own research with them because you will be stepping onto their artistic toes, and they will get offended with you possibly and fight back... but definitely when contacting them, email them single photo examples of what kind of photo you want to achieve.

I suggest calling them if possible so that you can get a feel if they're cool... if you can't get along with them, it will fuck up the vibe and poison your photos. Suggest to send email examples too.

Book the date.

No. 2 Outfits & Fat
Now that you are booked, figure out what clothes you are going to wear. If youneed to clean or do adjustments, go do that. Once done, put it in a hanger bag ready for the day. Allow time for tailor/dryclean if required in your schedule.

(Camera adds 10lbs...dont forget)

Start leaning out as much as you can...do some light dehydration 7 days prior if you know how to do it.

No. 3 Session
It's the big day, do I have to tell you to get 8hrs sleep before?
Wake up with plenty time to get to the studio, so that you remain relaxed and have time to get there and freshen up, if required.
Fresh shave.
Have a small high protein breakfast.
Do not gorge yourself with water, start sipping only.
Bring a water bottle with you and small protein bar to snack on during your session.
Did you remember to get a haircut and trim your uni-brow the day before?

With the photographer, go with the flow, follow their process and artistic direction.
If you feel you are not shooting the type of photo style you envisioned, tactfully suggest you "try something you have in mind".

Keep in mind that they are going to take possibly hundred of photos to get a good few.
You'll probably review samples together as you go.

Do not mention faceapp and photofeeler to the photographer... again, for some reason, they get offput.

No. 4 Photographer Delivers Samples
After a few days or possibly right away, the photographer will send you a set of low resolution uncorrected samples to select from.

No. 5 Prelim FaceApp and deliberation
Tools you will use:

- Photofeeler: This is for uploading your photos and getting anonymous comment (pay for it if you are unsure). https://www.photofeeler.com/
- Show it to women and gay friends, gather their comments. Never pic your photos yourself, it's just a waste of time. Always get opinions from other people, preferarbly from the same demographic you want to date.
- FaceApp: Phone app for fixing your face with Artificial Intelligence (pay for it) -- Get it on your phone.

Select your top 5ish photos that meet your envisioned requirements... run FaceApp with filter "Hollywood" or "Hollywood 2"... you might even add additional smile. You may be like "that doesn't look like me" --- there is a whole monkey brain perception thing in us when it comes to photos, the app just puts you in your best light... no woman I pulled from dating apps (even the ones that ended up hating my guts), or homies from the office, or even my mother, ever mentioned that I do not look like in my FaceApp'd photos. And besides, women wear makeup... why can't we use AI face alteration?

Also FaceApp could help you salvage bad photos...
Also when I first starting using Photofeeler, I realized that what I thought was a good photo was not and vice-versa.

Crop the photos in different ways, quick FaceApp it, then upload into Photofeeler, select a sample size of 5 ratings (pay for the credits) for each photo, to get a sense of your top photos.

Best results I got in all my photos tested in general were direct eye-contact with full teeth smile. Practice in the mirror on how to smile on-command, fake smile looks bad --- tip: need to smile with your mouth and your eyes...

No. 6 Email your photographer with your top 2 or 3 picks based on Photofeeler analysis
If they offer touch up on their end... go for light touch-up...

No. 7 Photographer Finals Delivery
He'll send you final versions. It is possible the touch ups need more or are too much, when you get the finals, you might need to come back to this step because you asked photographer to re-work the touch-up.

Note that price is usually based on number of finals selected.

No. 8 FaceApp & Run Photofeeler
On your finals... rerun FaceApp (even try a few different filter types), and run them in Photofeeler with larger sample size (20-30).

Note that it could take days to get all results from Photofeeler.

No. 9 Select your Official Pics
Select your best pics - you are done son.

 

[HammerEditor]

Here's the complete rundown on what does work for getting the best pics:

Thank you for the tutorial, you posted it right at the time I needed it
I'm having a photoshoot tomorrow and I already knew most of your tips, but there are a few I haven't heard of and will implement.

Once thing I might disagree on is the clean shave. My friends have told me that my face looks better with stubble (but they're straight males, so maybe they're less credible)? That's why half my shots will be clean-shaven, and the other half will be with stubble. I'll see which ones get rated the highest.

 

[POB]

Online dating is basically a system where you put in a fuckload of work upfront and then sit on your ass collecting the rewards later (rewards being setting up easy dates because then real life stuff takes over)

Perfect, that's exactly how this works.

In my experience, this is an acurate scale of importance:
- photos - 80% (the make or break of online)
- texting - 5% (if your pics are great, very basic texting fundamentals can get the job done...don't even need advanced stuff to get dates)
- date - 15% (this is where you run real game, and def need tight fundamentals to get to sex)

 

[POB]

My friends have told me that my face looks better with stubble (but they're straight males, so maybe they're less credible)? That's why half my shots will be clean-shaven, and the other half will be with stubble. I'll see which ones get rated the highest.

Clean shave also means grooming your facial hair if you have some.

 

[Zoro]

@POB

Coming in with some GOLD. Thanks a ton for breakdown.

Looks like that link you shared has some great advice as well.

--------

I have some questions on the types of photos. Let's say you have 3-5 photos and they all look like they are from the same photoshoot. That's not great right?

Also I remember hearing advice that the photos aren't just to show off your physical attractiveness, but your lifestyle as well.

That has been my dilemma. I don't take tons of photos on my adventures, so the few pictures I take with me in them are often bad lighting, bad angles, etc. I take those for me and to remember the trip, and I do even that rarely.

So would you recommend combining a professional photoshoot, with taking LOTS more pictures on my adventures and encourage my friends to take pictures of me?

I could see them doing this, especially if I offer to do the same back with the mutual understanding we're doing it as a good wingman's duty.

Or will photos that are professionally shot (but not make it obvious it's a photoshoot) be enough? Just bring different outfits and make it look like different days and environments? Shit, should I pretend I'm on an adventure? I bet I could invite my friends for a "realish" adventure and bring the photographer... lol might actually do that.

 

[POB]

So would you recommend combining a professional photoshoot, with taking LOTS more pictures on my adventures and encourage my friends to take pictures of me?

Very hard to answer without knowing you personally.
My guess is professional always trumps smartphones, unless your friend also has a pro camera and knows how to use it.

Anyway, this is why I put the link to photofeeler.
It's a fast way to know what's really working for you.

Just bring different outfits and make it look like different days and environments? Shit, should I pretend I'm on an adventure? I bet I could invite my friends for a "realish" adventure and bring the photographer... lol might actually do that.

Most pros already have that answered when they pic their shooting spots.
Some studios also have very different settings they can change in 2-3 minutes.

Those guys get payed by the hour, don't forget.
They need you in and out as soon as possible, so they can work on post and move on to the next client.
Just take a look at their portfolios and see if they match your personality.

 

[Skills]

Guys i hired a photographer, and it was a waste of money, here is a trick that i learned.... I am the least photogenic guy there is......

Step 1:
Get a newer phone iphone, samsumg, google newer ones, aka a phone with high quality camara

step 2:

DO NOT TAKE PICS, video tape yourself (by video taping efficiently you got a billion pictures with a billion angles)

Step 3:

do video pictures (in other words the video you can pause and take a pic, this is allowed in most modern phones)

Step 4:

Use one of the newer app editors i forgot the name (but minimally no much) you don't want overly filter pics....


as of break downs i think to get open and matches is 50% pics... So the pics just get you open and matches

then texting/strategy is super important to convert those matches to dates another 25%

then date super important to convert date to lay another 25%


^ the % to be honest is a bit of mental masturbation, cause the 3 are CRUCIAL, pics crucial, texting crucial, date crucial...

^ none of this matters if you are already shadow banned...

 

[Zoro]

none of this matters if you are already shadow banned...

I tried to get around the ban by making a new facebook and only using the apps on my computer (so it didn't link to any previous account info). Perhaps I could get an old cheap phone to use the app on, because I'm sure I have to do a hard reset again anyway and ensure that my new pics will have a chance.