An online local services marketplace conducted a survey of 2,000 Britishers, which revealed that on average, social media profile pictures are up to 2 years old.
Social media has a great influence on our lives. Every business, conversation and event is supported by these platforms. People cannot go a day without signing in on their social media accounts. However, it is strange to know that some people do not change their online profile pictures for up to 4 years.
Bidvine, and online local services marketplace, dug deep into the matter to see how frequently social media users update their profile pictures. The survey took into account 2,000 British people, who were using social media and online dating sites. When the online services company questioned them how often do they change their profile pictures, Bidvine was astonished by the results.
The survey results uncovered that the dating app users kept their profile pictures on for a short time (2 to 3 weeks) while Facebook and Instagram users took longer than that (5 to 6 months). People using dating apps (Grindr, Tinder, etc) changed their online display pictures more often than other social media apps.
Dating websites were a big shocker when it came to the age of user profile pictures. Some of the profile pictures were as old as 4 years! Plenty of Fish is a dating website where users didn’t change their profile picture for 3.2 years. On the other hand, Match.com users didn’t touch their display pictures for 4 years. The overall statistics for dating websites suggest that they had the most outdated profile pictures.
When the participants were asked when did they switch to a new profile picture on different social media accounts, their responses were as follows:
| 1. Grindr | 2 weeks |
| 2. Tinder | 3 weeks |
| 3. Whatsapp | 2.5 months |
| 4. Facebook | 5 months |
| 5. Instagram | 6 months |
| 6. SnapChat | 8 months |
| 7. Twitter | 1.8 years |
| 8. LinkedIn | 2.1 years |
| 9. Plenty of Fish | 3.2 years |
| 10. Match.com | 4 years |
11% of the participants confessed that their profile photograph was taken more than 10 years ago. The respondents were also asked the reason for their ridiculously outdated profile pictures. 62% expressed their disappointment while finding good pictures, while 49% said they wanted to look younger to those who visit their profiles.
The statistics also disclosed the fact that 1 out of 4 people didn’t want to become prominent in front of their boss and chose to stick to the same profile picture for long.
Speaking about the results, Sohrab Jahanbani, CEO of Bidvine.com said that judging by the regularity of how people update their profile pictures, older generation stick to their mature character and do not change their profile pictures frequently. Therefore, the conventional dating websites and social media apps that have a professional bent to them (like LinkedIn and Twitter) have the most outdated profile pictures. On the other hand, young people and bachelors like using their latest photos.
The fact that some people were unable to find good pictures of them was very disturbing for Bidvine, so they have launched pop up photo booths that offer professional photography. It is a convenient option for those who wish to update their profile pictures. After all, professional photographs add a touch of class regardless you want them for a wedding, company headshot or for an online profile.
