FabSwingers.com forum: How long should a profile be??

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Following on from a thread in the feedback forum, it was pointed out that the edit box for our profile was too small.

A reply from admin stated that...

The smaller your profile text is, the more chance people will read it. The current small box helps people keep their profiles to a reasonable length.

Realistically no one reads anything on the web and less on mobile so it's in your own interests to keep your profile short and to the point. We feel that expanding the profile entry box would just encourage people to write more which would be against their own interests.

Now personally if im looking at profiles i read the full profile no matter how long it is, i agree some are very very long but i think as long as the information is relevant then that is a good thing.

So my question to you guys is..

Do you read profiles in full no matter what the length?

Do you think they should be kept short, sweet and to the point?

Kat x x

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By *abioMan
over a year ago

Newcastle and Gateshead

[Removed by poster at 26/04/12 09:35:17]

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By *abioMan
over a year ago

Newcastle and Gateshead

[Removed by poster at 26/04/12 09:35:54]

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

short, sweet and to the point. i havnt got much writen on mine now because i dont think many people read it properly.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

they can't even manage to read the first few lines of ours so what hope is there for long profiles

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By *empting Devil.Woman
over a year ago

Sheffield

It makes no odds. My profile is on the long side so I understand if people don't read the whole text.

But I have sent no thanks messages to three men this morning who didn't even make it through the first sentence!

If you feel it tells your target audience everything they need to know then stick with it.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Ours is long... but the thing is I get a lot of good feedback about it.. that it tells people exactly what we are looking for..and what is in it for them as well as for us..

So some read.. although I add bits to mine all the time..

Cali

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By *abioMan
over a year ago

Newcastle and Gateshead

try this again.. 3rd attempt in...

a million different people will have a million different opinions on it.... in effect the more specific you are, the smaller the pool of potential playmates is...

for me, if someone has taken time to write it, then i will take 2 minutes of my time to read it.... if some people have a short span of attention then that isn't your fault....

for me, the profile is part of my personality that is showing, and why someone people out there may want to choose me over someone else out there, and if that grates someone that my profile is too long, they are not my target audience in the first place...

some people may like short profiles, be then funny enough if you have a look at most of the people who want profile help... they then to be short,bland and generic...

maybe admin should be promoting individuality in profiles, as opposed to the length of them

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I say what needs to be said on mine ( I think). Personally I cant be bothered to read profiles which read like War and Peace. This seems to be a trait of couples mainly. But I do understand why people make them wordy

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I think it all depends upon what sort of person you are and who interested someone is when reading the opening paragraph. A short profile may get read all the way through bur may not kindle a spark. A long profile may bore the pants off you due to dull content.

Maybe just maybe its the content of a profile that's all important not its length.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"I think it all depends upon what sort of person you are and who interested someone is when reading the opening paragraph. A short profile may get read all the way through bur may not kindle a spark. A long profile may bore the pants off you due to dull content.

Maybe just maybe its the content of a profile that's all important not its length.

I agree with this hence my comment of 'if the information is relevant'

You forever see people asking for advice on there profile in the forums and people always say give more details, sell yourself etc.

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By (user no longer on site)
Forum Mod
over a year ago

If I have an interest ill read the profile even if its really long

Some will grab my attention straight off and it won't feel like its an epic as the content is interesting

Some will bore me from the start so ill just scan it quickly

But I will read it all

Personally I like short and to the point,some can do that really well with a good use of words and some can't

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

We always read profiles in their entirety. Often, there'll be something near the end that makes it clear that the couple is not for us. If we hadn't read it and messaged them then we'd just be wasting their and our time.

Not sure if ours would be considered long or not but we get a lot of people saying how good it is that there's plenty of info to go on.

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By *unky monkeyMan
over a year ago

in the night garden

About this long

}---------------------------

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By *ashful BazMan
over a year ago

poole dorset

"short, sweet and to the point. i havnt got much writen on mine now because i dont think many people read it properly. "

Men never read profiles anyway, we just love perving the piccies.

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By *abioMan
over a year ago

Newcastle and Gateshead

"About this long

}---------------------------{"

glad you said that long rather than that wide.. you just made me wince....

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

usually read it all,

but keep mine short as i find its better to just describe yourself a bit,

i dont like to repeat stuff already covered by other sections of the profile, like interests is pretty conclusive so they are picked and preferences of what im looking for are already stated too.

i just generally describe myself, and let the other sections do the talking such as photos, verfications, interests etc all these should give a better idea what im like as a guy and a meet than me writing a sheet of A4 about myself

seems to work well for me too

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Following on from a thread in the feedback forum, it was pointed out that the edit box for our profile was too small.

A reply from admin stated that...

The smaller your profile text is, the more chance people will read it. The current small box helps people keep their profiles to a reasonable length.

So my question to you guys is..

Do you read profiles in full no matter what the length?

Do you think they should be kept short, sweet and to the point?

Kat x x "

about as long as that message you sent i think is perfect, not too much not too little and spaced out as well so easy to read

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By *emima_puddlefuckCouple
over a year ago

hexham

It doesnt matter how long or short your profile is some idiots wont read it, so i am afraid i have to disagree with admin on this one.

Very clearely on ours around 6 lines in it says we are looking for bi men, any single man reading could stop right there if he wanted. Even so this morning i have got 3 mails from straight men,

A profile should reflect the person writing it. i have tried to ensure ours does just that, whilst including details people need to know.

It wouldnt be me if it was 3 lines

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

It all depends what information people feel is important enough to include in order to allow readers an up-front option to gauge any mutual appeal…

However, leaving aside the meaningless one liners or lackadaisical effort of generalised terminology ……

I find profiles which run past 180-200 words will generally contain to much information of the kind I don’t need to gauge potential compatibility…… I also find many long profiles have less relevant information than succinct ones……….

But that’s just me !

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"spaced out as well so easy to read"
That makes a huge difference with longer profiles. When they're one huge paragraph it's not easy to read, especially the one we saw the other day that was all in capitals too.

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By *emima_puddlefuckCouple
over a year ago

hexham

"It all depends what information people feel is important enough to include in order to allow readers an up-front option to gauge any mutual appeal…

However, leaving aside the meaningless one liners or lackadaisical effort of generalised terminology ……

But that’s just me !

i do agree about the relevance, i "sectioned off " the different bits of ours in the hope that people would spot the bits that that applied to them ,

Still doesn't help with people just skipping to the pictures though.

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By *ugby 123Couple
Forum Mod
over a year ago

O o O oo

"About this long

}---------------------------{"

Are we still talking about the length of profiles or are you showing us something

To the OP....I am one of those people with no attention span and get bored with huge profiles, thats not to say a one line profile will interest me

I like straight to the point profiles, not too long, not too short..if it is an enjoyable , funny profile even better.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

You just never know what appeals to peeps on here, short n sweet sounds good though

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By *unky monkeyMan
over a year ago

in the night garden

"About this long

}---------------------------{

glad you said that long rather than that wide.. you just made me wince....

LOL Nooooooo. profile width is

{----}

basically if you multiply the width by the length and divide it by profile circumference the profile should be no more than 42.

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By *unky monkeyMan
over a year ago

in the night garden

"About this long

}---------------------------{

Are we still talking about the length of profiles or are you showing us something

To the OP....I am one of those people with no attention span and get bored with huge profiles, thats not to say a one line profile will interest me

I like straight to the point profiles, not too long, not too short..if it is an enjoyable , funny profile even better."

Leave my tinkle out of this lady!

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By *odareyouMan
over a year ago

not far from iceland,,,,,, tescos is nearer though :-) (near leeds)

I read the profile in full, no matter how long, I hope it gives me an insight into the person who has written it,..

I hope theres enough in the text to hold my interest ... be that humour or intelligent use of language.. on the whole I prefer slightly longer than shorter ones...

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By *he_original_poloWoman
over a year ago

a Primark shoebox in Leicester

I don't care as long as they are interesting.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

i put up a topic about long profiles, But maybe mis-worded it as it got deleted. But do i read them? Yes i do. Every last word. Crazy thing is when a woman writes showing she knows how to express she knows what she wants it seems to attract me to them. Even a turn on. Im talking about the descriptive part of the profile writing bit. I really dont find short profiles interesting. Cant tell anything about the person. Also long profiles means you get to filter out the wrong ppl. Dont like finding ive been barking up the wrong tree. My profile needs "brightening up" though. And I agree the 'couples' profiles seem to be extra long and just a bore/turn off as they tend to full of lists of rules, updates, rejections and whole load of other stuff that just makes them seem more of a challenge than of being fun.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

i think it attracts me because they are interesting.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I got told mine was to long.

Like I give a fuck.

You write what you want and if you're happy with it, that's cool.

You will never please all of the people all of the time and if you believe the hype then most don't read profiles anyway as so many are always complaining about it!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Mine has grown over time to try to include what I think is important and is now pretty long but then if a person sends a message and they are not what I am looking for I always refer back to it as in

"as my profile clearly says"

also some profiles appear longer if the person viewing is not a site supporter

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By *obinhood-maidmarionCouple
over a year ago

Yorkshire

from a personal point of view we read the opening gambit, if that is interesting then we continue to read the full profile.

If the opening gambit is boring,dull or clear that the person/persons are up thier own arse i.e opening a profile with no fatties or mingers etc etc (words to that effect) then we dont even bother.

In answer to your question, how long should a profile be.....It should be like a mini skirt!! what they reveal is important, but what they cover is vital!!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Shouldn't your profile be the length you are comfortable with? I always thought it was about you and expressing you not trying to stick to what others think you should be?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I don't give a stuff what others think of the length of my profile. If they don't like it they don't have to message me.

I occasionally use some profiles on here as a cure for insomnia. I'm sure others do with mine. I'll die happy knowing it served some purpose

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I have noticed that on a few of the longer profiles they will stick in a random word and ask you to use that as a subject title should you message them so its worth reading the whole thing

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"short, sweet and to the point. i havnt got much writen on mine now because i dont think many people read it properly.

Men never read profiles anyway, we just love perving the piccies.

well you can tell a bit about a person by their pictures and verifications, your profile is ok because its not to boring or serious.

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By *ENDAROOSCouple
over a year ago

South West London / Surrey

I think that profiles should be as long or as short as people want them to be.

I will generally read profiles all the way through. The only time I don't is if, they are full of demands, orders or are rude/offensive.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"It doesnt matter how long or short your profile is some idiots wont read it, so i am afraid i have to disagree with admin on this one.

Very clearely on ours around 6 lines in it says we are looking for bi men, any single man reading could stop right there if he wanted. Even so this morning i have got 3 mails from straight men,

A profile should reflect the person writing it. i have tried to ensure ours does just that, whilst including details people need to know.

It wouldnt be me if it was 3 lines

i think they do read it, they just think you will make an exception to them lol

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By *ovedupstillCouple
over a year ago

mullinwire

as long as it takes to say everything you need to.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"as long as it takes to say everything you need to."

I would go with that.

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By *oulmates YorkshireCouple
over a year ago

Leeds

"short, sweet and to the point. i havnt got much writen on mine now because i dont think many people read it properly.

Men never read profiles anyway, we just love perving the piccies.

oh really Baz !! and I thought it was the wording on our profile that won you over lol

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I do prefer longer profiles, mainly because you can get more of a sense of what the person is/people are like before actually getting in touch. Though having said that, if it turns into a saga I do sometimes click away. Usually end up going back and re-reading, though, just 'cos I'm a nosy bugger at times :P

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By *ittle_brat_evie!!Woman
over a year ago

evesham

length of the profile is not important its what is said on it that counts (please dont take mine as an example of this, i will get round to re-writing it

)

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By *idlifecrisis40Man
over a year ago

Manchester (North)

It was me that started the thread in the feedback forum. My profile is long, probably as long as it could reasonably be but I've broken it down into sections, provided a summary at the top and even used bullet points. Ok, this makes me kinda unusual

I've tried to cut it down but really I want people to know everything I say in it, it saves a truckload of time telling people individually what I want.

I agree that long blocks of text are unreadable but the edit box size encourages people to go to the other extreme and just write a couple of sentences. If everyone did that then every profile would be the same - "I'm a bloke/girl/couple/TV, looking for a bloke/girl/couple/TV. Message me." That would just increase the number of cut and paste scattergun mailshot messages and waste everyone's time more than it does now, and it happens a lot now.

I'm just saying there is a middle ground. Most decent profiles that would interest me are maybe 3 paragraphs long, like this post. It is enough to show some personality, some detail of who you are, who you are looking for and what you like to do. To my mind very short profiles just show a lack of effort and I don't want to get into bed with people whose most notable quality is lack of effort.

So... did you read this entire post? Was it too long or about right?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

200 words give or take 2 is perfect.

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By *oxy_minxWoman
over a year ago

Scotland - Aberdeen

Well, I have had to tweak mine on a few occasions!

Some read and compliment other don't read and make first contact and wonder why I don't respond, because they obviously have not read my profile, I have made the effort to spell out what I am looking for, if they can't be asred to read and then get shirty, I just point out...you haven't read my profile, don't think they can argue with that.

The profile I can't stand are the one liners, like 'here for fun' why on earth would I be enticed to answer a message that says 'Hi, how are you?'

And then they come on the forums moaning about not getting meets!

Ok, deap breath and rant over lol

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Always read all of the profile but get really anoyed when people do not read ours. Ours is not long but people seem unable to read even ours so i think that they cannot be considerate lovers if they cannot be considerate readers

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