Guide
Hookup Profile Tips: Write a Bio Worth Answering
Three parts do most of the work: the photo, the headline and one honest line about what you want.
Use a recent photo of your face, a headline that says one specific thing about you, and one honest line about what you want. Keep your surname, workplace and contact details off the page. The site shows only your nearest town, so leave out anything that pins down where you live.
What makes a hookup profile work?
A casual profile has an awkward job: say what you want without sounding like a shopping list, and be specific about yourself without giving away where you live. Research on online dating suggests where the balance sits.
In a 2015 systematic review that pulled together 86 studies, published in Evidence-Based Medicine, a BMJ journal, the authors reported that interest was best captured by an attractive still picture and a fluent headline. Descriptions were then better liked when they stayed close to reality, used simple language with some humour, and showed who the person was and what they were looking for in a 70:30 ratio. Hence the three parts below, and why the line about what you want stays short.
The three parts
Three parts, one rule each
The photo
Your face, from this year, nobody else in frame. Ask a friend to take it. In a 2017 experiment with mock-up social network profiles, 297 participants rated people pictured in selfies as less trustworthy than the same people photographed by someone else.
The headline
One specific detail, not a mood. “Cyclist, terrible cook, decent company” beats “easy-going and fun”. A 2022 Tilburg University study asked 1,234 participants from two Dutch dating sites (most of them over 50) to judge real profile texts. The ones judged most original carried more concrete detail about their writers, and those writers were judged funnier and more intelligent.
What you want
One sentence, in plain words. Say what you are after, how often and what is off the table. Healthline’s casual dating guide, medically reviewed in 2020, warns that unclear intentions get awkward and confusing. The daily match suggestions weigh what each person is after, too.
Match the line to the meet: the one-night stand guide for a one-off, casual fling for a few weeks, meet for sex for something regular, sex near me if distance is your first question.
Before and after
Weak line, stronger line: three rewrites
Each rewrite is suggestive at most, and says something only its writer could say.
The headline
Before
“Looking for fun, message me.”
After
“Early riser, late talker. Casual and no strings, and I’ll say so up front.”
The line about what you want
Before
“Open to whatever, no drama.”
After
“After something casual and regular, about once a fortnight, no strings. If that suits you, say hello.”
“Whatever” tells nobody anything, and “no drama” reads like a warning label. The rewrite gives a frequency and a way in.
The bit about you
Before
“Easy-going, enjoy a laugh and get on with everyone.”
After
“Good company, better after dark. Tell me the worst chat-up line you’ve heard and I’ll tell you mine.”
Everyone says easy-going, and nobody can reply to it. The rewrite hands a stranger something to answer.
All three together
Headline: “Night owl with a day job and a dry sense of humour.”
About me: “Dog walker, hopeless cook, very good at takeaways. I like a proper drink and a proper conversation first.”
What I want: “Something casual and regular, a couple of evenings a month, no strings. If that sounds like your kind of week, say hello.”
That is about fifty words: short enough to read on a phone, long enough to answer.
Starters to finish in your own words
- “Ask me about…”
- “You’ll get on with me if…”
- “The evening I’m after looks like…”
- “The best opener I ever got was…”
- “Please don’t…”
Last look
Four checks before you publish
- A recent photo. Anyone meeting you will compare you with it. In a 2008 study by Toma, Hancock and Ellison, 80 online daters rated their own photographs the least accurate part of their profiles.
- No real name or workplace. Your username does the job. The house rules below list what to keep off the page.
- Nothing that reads as an advert. No links, promotions or business offers, and no soliciting money for services. A profile is for meeting.
- The truth about age and availability. In a 2019 study of 94 online daters by Sharabi and Caughlin, seeing a date as dishonest went with a less successful first date. Say so if evenings are all you have, or if you are seeing someone.
On this site
What the site does and what it asks of you
What the site does
- Keeps your real name and email behind a username, and shows members only the town or city nearest to you, never your address.
- Screens photos, video and text on upload, using software and human review, and blurs sensitive images behind a warning.
- Adds a verified badge once you complete the optional free ID check. A live video check with a moderator is another way to confirm who you are, without documents.
What the house rules ask
- No surnames, addresses, workplaces, phone numbers, social media handles or email addresses on your profile.
- No links to other sites, and no business, advertising or promotion.
- No photos of anyone without their permission, visible faces included.
The features page lists every check, the safety page explains blocking and reporting, and our guides cover what comes after the profile.
Hookup profile questions, answered
What should I put in my profile?
A recent photo of your face, a headline with one specific detail and one honest sentence about what you want. Fill in the profile fields too, because the daily match suggestions weigh what each person is after and shared interests. Leave out your surname, workplace, contact details and anything that links to another site.
What photos work?
Clear, recent and yours: your face in decent light, taken by a friend or on a timer, with nobody else in shot. Check the background for street signs or house numbers. Photos are screened on upload, and completing the optional ID check adds a verified badge.
Should I say I want something casual?
Yes. Unclear intentions get awkward and confusing, as Healthline puts it, and wanting casual is a mainstream reason to be on a dating site. In Pew Research’s 2022 survey of 6,034 US adults, 40% of people who had used a site or app in the past year named dating casually as a major reason, and 24% named casual sex.
Should I use my real name?
No. Use a username, which is all other members see. RAINN, the US sexual violence charity, advises a discreet username that avoids your full name, location and age. Share your first name once you have decided you want to meet.
How long should my profile be?
Short enough to read on a phone in one go: a headline, three or four sentences about you and one about what you want. Save the detail for your first messages, where you can answer what they ask. Our sexting tips help once the chat warms up.
Write it once, write it honestly
Choose a username, upload a clear photo and add your one honest sentence.
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