"I wanted to make it clear that I was family oriented." When choosing photos of your kids, however, it's best to pick the ones that don't include close-up shots of their faces.

This means: no potty or bathtub photos, and no bathing-suit shots.

Avoiding the selfie is especially important if you're a man.

That said, unfortunately, there are people who spend their wasted lives in front of the computer screen targeting kids, so proceed with caution.

Sam drops the following bomb: Flash (be it cellphone or otherwise) adds seven years to your profile pic. You know the shot—the universally-maligned “ My Space Angle” selfie is achieved by holding your camera above your head and being just so darn coy. That’s fine, but if you’re wearing sunglasses, your dream guy might think you’re hiding something.

But in terms of getting new messages, Sam reveals that the My Space shot is the single most effective photo type for women. Julie's rule: Your profile photos should show your glamorous smile along with your sparkling eyes.

While online daters think their photos are relatively accurate, independent judges rated one third of online dating photos as inaccurate, according to research carried out by Catalina Toma, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For that reason, she recommends posting a variety of recent photos.