How to make the right impression on the Internet — 8 tips

How do people perceive you — on Linkedin, the company home page, dating sites and other social media? Do you know?

The picture others get of you might be all they ‘know’ about you. And that impression is formed quickly, is lasting and is hard to change.

My name in Angela Ahola and nowadays I work giving talks about the importance of the first impression. I have recently published my first book The art of making an impression.

I have always been interested in first impressions and how we ‘read’ one another. This interest was aroused during my teens. I spent my high school years in a decidedly upper-class school. At the same time, I played in a Death Metal band and presumably looked like what you are probably thinking. In other words, I deviated radically from the other pupils who had exactly the right brand labels on their clothes and parents with fancy jobs. But I was ambitious too, and interested in school. However unfair it might feel, my appearance — how I chose to ‘present myself’ to the world around me — most likely had an influence on my final grades.

One may ask why. Well, research has shown that we humans unfortunately don’t tend to be judged on the basis of who we are. Rather, on the basis of how others perceive us.

Later, my research would also show that even professionally active judges and lay magistrates are influenced by the first impression an accused person makes on them.

We know, however, that today the first meeting is not always IRL, but more often than not over the Internet — on Linkedin, via company home pages and dating sites.

But what is it that determines how others perceive us — on the Internet?

To start with, the psychological mechanisms are the same. We ask ourselves if we can trust you. Are you kind, good-hearted and whether your competence/capacity is high or low.

We thus try to ‘read’ the same qualities regardless of how we meet. And regardless of what sort of information we have available about each other. This phenomenon has been labelled by researchers as ‘thin slices of behaviour’ and, briefly, means that whatever it is that others get to know about us, they will use it as a basis to draw conclusions about our entire personality — it might be as little as a business card, our title, or a profile image.

So today, to succeed in our career or with dating, we also need to master the art of making an impression on the Internet. Here are eight tips to help you on the way — with the focus on your photo.

• Know what you are doing. Be aware that the photo is important. People are to a great degree visual.
• The context. Your best Tinder-image is not necessarily the same one as on LinkedIn that puts the focus on career and competence.
• What image of yourself do you want to convey? The picture of an attractive person, a competent professional or something else? Use your picture to convey the job and the career you wish. On company home pages and career-oriented social media, present a professional image — perhaps even taken at a photographer’s studio — a competent and serious impression.

• The associations. The halo effect means that the setting where the photo is taken also influences others’ judgement of us. If we are standing on the top of a mountain compared with in the city bustle, conveys different pictures of us. The picture can also be taken in the midst of an activity — when we give a talk, stand next to a motorbike, make a funny face at a fancy-dress party, or are sitting in our office. ‘Imbibing idiot bias’ describes, for example, how something as harmless as a glass of beer or wine in the picture means that others perceive us as less intelligent.

• The body. Are you standing upright or slouching, with an open gesture or with your arms folded? A head held straight is more authoritative than letting your head lean to one side, as an emphatic signal. But can also be perceived as subordinate and excusing.
• Styling. Are you dressed formally or more casually? Light or dark clothes? Do you wear your hair loose, set up, have make-up on, wear spectacles or even sunglasses — you will influence how others perceive you.

• Gaze. Is your gaze directed at the camera or not? If you look into the camera, others will find it easier to remember you. But if you are wearing sunglasses, that is a minus — ‘what are you hiding’ is what we spontaneously feel.

• Mirroring. We like people who are similar to us. And at the same time are a bit suspicious of those who are different to us. Good to bear in mind both on the Internet and IRL.

The very best of luck!

/Angela

PS.

If you think this subject is as fascinating as I do, you can read more about it in my book The art of making an impression (not yet published in english) and you are more than welcome to download our new innovation — the app Tosify (beta version) — which will help you to find out exactly which signals your profile-image sends out. For free. For more information about my talk The art of making an impression and my new inspirational talks Would you like to have yourself as a colleague? and Who are you really? — How to get a more fun life — with the help of science please send an email to per@angelaahola.com. And here you will find (all) my social media profiles in one place.