Remember back to the early days of MySpace? Practically every default picture was of somebody, often wearing a trucker hat, snapping his or her own mug shot with a cell phone camera. Their picture-taking arm was always in the way, and the photographer was hardly discernible through the pixel-y, dark shot. Apparently, that is what's hot now.
Well, an article in the Times just elevated the cultural status of that type of cell phone picture. A study by dating site OkCupid.com revealed... well, a whole lot of random insights into photos' role in the online dating world, which the Times goes into at great detail.
But the most notable factoid is that on OkCupid, people responded more frequently to the photos taken by the subject themselves, even though the photo was poorer quality. Psychology professor and author Sam Gosling said people are attracted to the candid cell phone shots because they seem more honest. But, in its usual drawn out way, the Times gives a piece of advice to those innocents who think the picture of that tan hottie is accurate: Photoshop can work wonders.