The Do's and Dont's of Tag Lines

Let's talk about Tag Lines.  Most of these dating sites require you to post a sentence somewhere across the top of your profile that is meant to highlight your personality and who you are.  It feels incredibly awkward writing this, and just as awkward reading these sometimes.  This is the place where it becomes painfully obvious some of us have no personality and some of us are just natural douches.  In the end I would say only about 10% of us come across well in this section. 

Either when you get matched up with a person or when you're out there searching the vast database of sometimes nameless faces, the tag line is the only thing you see about this person outside of their random profile name and photo.  For those of us not judging solely by looks, this is what we use to make that snap decision of whether or not reading your profile is worthy of our time. 

The thing is that although the space they give you to write in will fit anywhere from 25-50 characters, that isn't what others are seeing in the snapshot put out there into the search database.  Which can make of some serious misunderstandings and fairly random and unintentionally humorous lines.  In the end a person really only has about 6 word... 6 little words, to try and captivate their audience. 

Here are some that caught my eye.  Let's call this the good, the bad, and the ugly.  The part highlighted is a sampling of what would be visible in search, the rest of it you have to click the profile to see.  I have not edited any spelling or grammar in the below.

Let's start with The Ugly:

• "I'm gonna wear you down; I'm gonna make you see; I'm gonna get to you; you're gonna give in to me" - Ok, so I get this is lyrics to a song.  But REALLY?  Think this over people!  Not only is the song about someone trying to force someone to be interested in you (which is creepy in the way they are going about it), but I'm not even having to dig deep here to make this sexual. 
• "Got a little nippy going through the pass, huh Har?" - Apparently this is from Dumb and Dumber... which is fine if you only want women who like this movie interested in you. In my experience, that number is pretty small. I can count all the women I know who don’t HATE this movie on one hand. 
• "Exit visas are imminent"- What the heck? Why are you advertising you are looking for someone to marry for a green card? - There’s always a chance he MIGHT be a US Citizen...but I checked, it's not a quote from any movie Google could find. If you’re just looking for a Visa, thanks for being honest. But if not, avoid all phrases that may sound in any way like this is the case. The sad reality is there are guys on dating sites for this purpose and women are always wary looking for red flags.
• "I'll wink if you're pretty. I'll email if you're damn sexy!" - Just no. This sound superficial and says nothing about the person but that they care about looks. 
• "Don't you want a little taste of the glory? See what it tastes like." - Again with the sexual innuendos! Women know you want sex from them. You really don’t need to hit them in the face with it. Also, please limit the massive ego. 

The Bad:

•  "Just chilin" - So many people saying they’re just looking for something “chill” or “casual” but then start talking about going on vacation and wanting to get all romantic. Or they say they’re looking for something serious and their partner in life. But then you ask them “what are to looking for” and they say stuff like- just to have a good time, something casual! People on dating sites are full of  conflicting message. If you’re having trouble, or you keep thinking why are all these women “acting crazy” evaluate your profile and what you’re saying. Are you sending mixed messages? 
• "Most people are other people"- I just don't even know where to go with this one.... and neither will the people on the dating site. This gives nothing about you and no in for them to a conversation. 
• "How you doing? ;)" - Not sure if I like this one or not. The Friends fan in me laughs, but then all I can think is way too cheesy. Considering how long ago Friends was on, and that it’s referencing the character who was a womanizer, you’re better off choosing another intro. 

• "Going for walk?" - Grammar Check- If you speak fluent English, please highlight that in your tag line by proof reading.  Also, this is just a really weird question to be asking as you’re into. So what if I’m going for a walk today? How is that going to encourage conversation?

• "I'm a single man looking for a single faithful women... " Yes women... not woman. First off, thanks for clarifying you are single. I appreciate that given more and more non single people are on the main stream apps. However the use of women- people legitimately believe in and practice polygamy! So please spell check if you don’t want to be misunderstood.
• "Seeking a better half." - Don't bring yourself down. Also- non-crazy women don't want a project. I get it's a common saying, but think about it. It is self effacing. Maybe romantic once you know the person, but at the get to it makes it sound like you’re lacking in confidence and looking for someone to fix you.
• "Just looking for flirting and a good time thats all LOL" - Ok honesty and upfront is great! Please don’t waste my time. But the more people use leetspeak like LOL and emoji’s the faster I pass on their profile l. This isn’t a text message. It’s a first impression. 

The Good:

• "Looking for a partner in crime"- now that I can get behind!  Sweet, I could use a little spice in my life.  My criminal record is pretty boring. 
• "Anybody up for riding bikes from village to village in Provence this summer?"- Ok, so the "hey lets take a vacation with a compete stranger" aspect is a little weird. But great to have a suggestion of an activity right there. Plus I already know a couple of things about the person just from that! 1- He is active 2- He lives to travel 3- He likes to ride bikes. Cool! Me too!
• "Excited for the Possibilites" - Hehe, I still laugh when I read this.  It screams "cheesy" to me!  But it got me to read on and actually- I ended up going on a date with this guy!
• "Architect by day.... aspiring chef by night" Cool- I know you've got a decent job and I won't have to support you. And you can cook! Bonus! Yes Please. Breakfast in bed sounds great, thanks a bunch!
• "Determined to make 5'7" cool again" - haha!  Short, but rocking the confidence. 
• "Mr. Spontaneity"- I like it.  Cheesy, yes, but it's a fun way of trying to get your personality across.
• "Click Here to Add to Cart"- Totally the same as what I was thinking, however I am not sure if this is good or bad.  I thought it was cleaver when I wrote something similar, so I give him props and put this in the good.

So let's wrap this up with my Do's and Dont's.

• Don't: Just list out your attributes. While that does allow me to know what you THINK you're like, it doesn't really display them. Try and show them in a creative way, not just list them.  Unless of course you want to come across as boring.
• Don't: Try to be too insightful. I can tell people have put all this thought into a great quote, but really you only see the first couple of words which doesn't get the point across. You have about 6 words to try and grab my attention and make me want to read more. Otherwise I'm on to the next person. Harsh, but true. It really only shows those 6 bolded words, that is all you get. Sure there is a short paragraph showing below, but if the bolded tag line above is strange, weird, incoherent, I'm not going to read that. I only read the paragraph below if the tag line makes me want to. Remember that... 6 little words.
• Don't: Write anything that can be sexually interpreted if you want to be taken seriously.  Maybe you are just desperate and looking for those out there with huge daddy issues and self esteem problems that would take the time to create a profile for the sake of getting it on.  In which case I really hope you are on something free like Plenty of Fish and not a paid dating site.  I guess I would like to imagine that the sites which require you to pay have a higher ratio of non-STD ridden users verses free sites.  So I can see why someone might choose to fork out the dough for this purpose.  However something about doing this on the paid sites just seems wrong to me. (This is of course invalid for sites that are geared to sexual encounters, like Swingers, SugerDaddies, HookersRUs, and PlentyofFIsh.)
• Don't: Come across as a Douche.  This includes people who think their shit don't stink.  Outright say they are just into looks, boob size, butt size, or a woman for anything other than an equal. 

• Do: Be Cleaver.
• Do: Be Brief.
• Do: Hint at an interesting fact about yourself.
• Do: Be respectful.
• Do: Use Spell Check.
• Do: Have a friend (you trust) look over your profile BEFORE publishing.

Look at that... seems so simple doesn't it?