How do you pick your profile picture?

[Sybe]

Hey everyone,

When a guest books your place, and you want to find more information about them, you’ll often land on their profile page. The same goes for guests wanting more information about the Host. You’ll see the Host’s or guest’s “About” section, any listings/guidebooks/experiences, and any reviews they have received and left. You can already gather a lot of information from this, but there’s one thing that really speaks a thousand words: a profile picture!

There are many things a profile picture can give away simply by what is shown, how you’re posing, where you’re standing, or even whether or not it’s a picture of yourself. A profile picture allows you to tell a story about yourself that won’t come across as well as when just using words. Do keep in mind that a profile picture often doesn’t state facts, and anything we learn from them is usually solely based on speculation and assumption. 

How do you pick your profile picture? What story do you choose to tell guests or Hosts about yourself? And why?

Let me know your thoughts on this in the comments!

Sybe

[Gillian166]

@Sybe absolutely, but you are looking at this from a glass half empty perspective. 

the profile photo can actually HELP you get the booking approved. A nice simple portrait pic is reassuring, or maybe there's a pic of you and your cat and the host is a cat lover too, or a pic of you hiking and the host loves that about you. I'm sure discrimination happens in a minority of cases, I don't think we'll ever stop that, but a host should be able to use a combo of photo + the chat + past reviews to determine if a guest is a good fit. If a guest has 0 reviews, no photo, no ID verified and can barely write 4 words, why do I have accept them into my home and my life? 

this policy of hiding the profile photo during reservation is actually protecting the bad actors.  

[Sybe]

@Gillian166 It's more words of precaution rather than a glass half empty perspective, but I understand what you mean. All in all, I think we're on the same line regarding how important and beneficial a profile picture can be! 😃

[Gillian166]

@Sybe  I think humans have more in common with each other than not, and a pic of someone hiking with their dog says so much more about them than the "typical" markers we might use for discrimination (race, ethnicity, gender, religion etc), cos we see them as real person sharing our interests, so all the superficial stuff becomes irrelevant. I see that as a positive, whereas when you hide their profile photo I wonder why..... 

i'm in favour of having profile pics re-introduced. 

[Trude0]

I prefer photos of the actual person - it helps me build an impression of who the guest is. Also helps me ”stalk” the guest online…😉 I think many guests must feel the same way. It does not have to be a close up, though - even a photo from a bit more distance works well for me.

My photo is my LinkedIn photo. My first name is not common in Sweden (I’m Norwegian),  so if potential guests try to look me up before booking, they should be able find me. Hopefully this builds trust. Also, I wanted a photo where I look smiling and friendly, but not one that is very private.

And @Gillian166: I’m 51 too, and agree with you; we are old…