Should You Lie in Your Online Dating Profile?

You wouldn’t think that Brad Pitt would spend much time thinking about online dating but in the latest “Ask a Basterd” feature in Wired Magazine, Brad gives the big thumbs up to lying about your income in your online dating profile.  According to the famous Mr. Pitt, not only is it okay to lie about your income when you fill out a dating profile at an online matchmaker (like CupidMarket.com) it is a good idea!  In his quote, Brad says that if you are honest about how much you make online people will just think that you make less money than you do so it is better to lie.

What do you think?

While it is common knowledge that many details in online dating profiles get exaggerated, do you think it is a good idea to lie outright?  And if you are okay with the income lie, what will you do when you actually meet someone and have to come clean about how much money you make?

Most of us would agree that how much money a person makes should not be the deciding factor in whether or not we agree to go on a date or start a relationship with someone.  If we know that money should not be important, why do so many people feel compelled to lie about their income?  Why do so many people assume that they need to inflate their annual incomes to attract someone?

Lying on your online dating profile, whether it is about your income, your weight or even your hobbies is dangerous territory.  Remember, you want people to be attracted to you for who you are, not for whom you want them to think you are or who you wish you already were!  It is also important to remember that it is not even a tiny bit hard to find out if a person is telling the truth on his or her CupidMarket.com dating profile.  Thanks to Google and other search engines, once your potential date learns your real name he/she can look up all sorts of information and find out how truthful your profile is.  Do you really want to risk being dumped by someone you really like because you didn’t tell the truth in your profile?

It is also important to mention that blatantly lying on your online dating profile is lame.  There is no way around it.  It is one thing to say that your hair is sandy brown when your hair is more of a chestnut or reddish brown.  It is entirely another thing to put down that you make one hundred thousand dollars per year when you only make thirty thousand.  Also—if you’re lying, what do you think the chances are that someone is lying to you?