In a survey conducted on more than 2,000 British social media and online dating users, Bidvine (an online local services marketplace) found that an average social media profile picture stays on for about 2 years. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Intagram, Whatsapp, LinkedIn and others have become a part and parcel of our life. People cannot stay long without logging into their accounts and updating their statuses, yet it’s surprising to see their profile pictures are as old as 4 years.
Bidvine set out on a mission to find the reason behind this unusual behaviour and asked the public how they present themselves to other online users. The survey also inquired how often people change their display pictures and got astonishing responses.
The results disclosed that the users of online dating apps like Grindr and Tinder upload a new profile picture every two to three weeks, while Facebook and Instagram users do not change their pic for five to six months.
When it came to dating websites, the statistics showed their profile pictures were most outdated. The user base of Plenty of Fish was keeping the same profile picture for 3.2 years, while Match.com users took 4 years to update their photo.
When the public was asked when they last renewed their profile picture, the statistics were surprising:
- Grindr – 2 weeks
- Tinder – 3 weeks
- WhatsApp – 2.5 months
- Facebook – 5 months
- Instagram – 6 months
- SnapChat – 8 months
- Twitter – 1.8 years
- LinkedIn – 2.1 years
- Plenty of Fish – 3.2 years
- com – 4 years
Around 11% of the respondents claimed that their uploaded profile pictures were taken decades ago. When the public was asked to justify their outdated display pictures, 62% replied that they weren’t able to find good pictures of themselves. About 49% (nearly half) of the participants had an odd point of view that they wanted to appear younger to others. Also, every 1 in 4 people were found hiding their latest Facebook profile pictures from their bosses.
Sohrab Jahanbani (CEO, Bidvine) stated that people using conservative dating and business websites avoid changing their profile pictures on a regular basis, while the young generation is eager to use their latest photographs. Most of the social media users do not find their good pictures, so they don’t bother updating their profiles. Bidvine is here to take people out of their misery by introducing pop-up photo booths providing professional photographs to those who want to change their profile pictures. It doesn’t matter if it’s for a wedding, a company headshot or social media, professional photos add glamour to your personality.
