The toughest door on the net—these rules apply to your online profile!
Being a bouncer at LemonSwan sounds like a good job in an exclusive club. The approach is similar, except that the bouncers sit inside and personally check all new profile registrations according to strict rules. Just like at an exclusive club, they check which people will make for a good party and which won't. These rules were developed together with in-house psychologist Andrea Simmer to test the seriousness of new members.
Why are there so many rules at LemonSwan?
The internet has changed a lot of things, including, unfortunately, dating culture. That's why we deliberately focus on the needs of women and make sure that all members behave appropriately. Women in particular suffer from frequently receiving immoral offers or having to listen to typical macho remarks. We want to spare our female members such experiences. Instead, we show them that they deserve better.
Most women want a long-term monogamous relationship and not a one-night stand or short-lived affair. In addition, most women want a respectful and sophisticated exchange when looking for a partner. But finding a partner on equal terms is not so easy these days. More and more women feel harassed by crude pick-up lines or offensive images when online dating. That's where we come in.
To ensure that someone is approved to search for a partner on LemonSwan, our gatekeepers look for serious intentions, detailed information, and tasteful photos. They follow precisely defined rules. At least 50% of the profile must be filled out—after all, you want to get to know your potential partner as well as possible. Of course, an interest in a long-term relationship is also an absolute prerequisite.
The profile photo: First impressions count
A decent profile picture is extremely important. It's like a job interview: not only does the first impression count, but it's often the only chance you get to introduce yourself. Don't you want to show yourself in the best light? Try to put yourself in the shoes of someone seeing your profile for the first time. Would you be happy with your picture?
If you have a photo in which you are very difficult to recognize, this is not particularly helpful and is more likely to lead to rejection by our gatekeepers. If, on the other hand, your photo is very appealing, it triples your chances of success and you are more likely to get noticed!
A little tip: Women pay particular attention to a man's charisma and a friendly smile.
Our bouncers pay attention to the following
1. Your face must be 100% clearly recognizable
Rule number 1 is actually self-explanatory: make sure you choose a photo that clearly shows your face. It doesn't help you or other members if only half of your face is visible, the image is blurry, or you are standing too far away. You can find tips on how to take the perfect profile picture here.
2. Only you should be pictured in your profile picture
Why only you? Quite simply, our door staff won't be able to identify you otherwise. Suppose you upload a group photo of yourself and your friends—how are we supposed to identify who you are, and, going one step further, how are your partner suggestions supposed to do so?
In addition, the General Data Protection Regulation plays a major role here—our bouncers also have to follow the rules.
3. No pets are allowed in your profile picture
We understand your love for animals, but pictures of or with pets are not suitable for a serious profile picture. Save these pictures for when you've met someone and really want to show off your animals.
4. Bye, bye filters – avoid heavily edited pictures
In the age of Snapchat, Instagram, and the like, filters have become almost part of everyday life when it comes to pictures. Face filters such as cute dogs are still very popular. Not with our gatekeepers, though, as they make you unrecognizable. The same applies to extreme black and white or sepia filters.
Our tip: Avoid these filters at all costs and instead make sure you have good lighting that shows you off to your best advantage.
5. No funny faces – duckface, sticking out your tongue, etc. are a no-go
Of course, we all have those typical pictures on our phones: duckface, exaggerated smiles, sticking out our tongues, and much more. These photos are certainly funny and show you from a different side, but do you really want to make that kind of first impression?
It simply looks unprofessional, which is why our bouncers reject photos with funny faces.
Your profile photo should be chosen so that you could be recognized on the street!
Gallery photos – time for self-expression
Our door staff are strict when it comes to profile photos, but you can make up for this with your gallery photos. Gallery photos should show more of you and serve as a means of personal self-expression.
However, our gatekeepers have established a few basic rules to ensure the necessary seriousness here as well:
1. You must be clearly identifiable in all photos
The same applies here as with your profile picture - our gatekeepers must be able to recognize you.
2. Other people in the photo must not be identifiable
If you upload photos with other people in them to your gallery, they must not be identifiable. This also applies to photos taken in public. So think about whether you want to go to the trouble of making the other people in the photo unrecognizable, or whether you would rather just choose a couple of other nice photos of yourself.
3. Rotated photos
We understand that you may like the photo from this position, but rotated photos only lead to more confusion than anything else in your gallery. And it's not much fun when your prospects have to turn their heads to recognize you. Make our job easier by putting the image in the correct position or choosing a nice alternative.
4. Photos of children are only allowed if they are not identifiable
Our gatekeepers pay special attention to this! We don't need to talk about how much you love your children. Our only concern is to protect you and your children, which is why clearly recognizable photos of children are strictly prohibited. If you want to upload a photo of yourself and your child, please make sure that your child is unrecognizable.
5. Uploading the same photos over and over again? Not with us!
On the one hand, five copies of the same photo would look monotonous, and on the other hand, you would not be getting the most out of your profile! Of course, we want to avoid that. So our gatekeepers reject photos that are duplicates. This leaves you room for other great photos that show your surroundings or your interests.
Job title – you should bear these rules in mind
Your job title is displayed in many places on the platform right next to your profile picture and is therefore crucial to the attractiveness of your profile. In addition, for many people, their job is a decisive selection criterion when looking for a partner.
We investigated this in more detail in a survey and found that 64.9% of respondents consider the job of a potential partner to be very important.
Our gatekeepers pay particular attention to the following:
It must be an official job title or abbreviation (e.g., CEO, MTA, Dipl. - Ing.).
The job title must be specific—don't keep your job too general, but be more precise.
The job title must not contain any spelling mistakes.
Do not write your job title exclusively in capital letters, as this comes across as aggressive.
No company names may be mentioned.
Industry designations (e.g., employee, catering, customer service, etc.) are not permitted. Be more specific here too and correct for gender, e.g., female caterer, customer service employee.
There are also terms that are not official job titles but are still permitted.
Pupil, apprentice, student, intern, trainee, high school graduate
Student with indication of field of study: e.g., student of political science
Housewife, househusband, mother, mom, father, dad
Single parent, single parent
Self-employed
Former police officer, former teacher, etc.
Retiree
Pensioner
Free text questions: give your profile a personal touch
The free text questions give you the opportunity to express yourself. This is where other members can learn the most about you. A neatly completed profile is viewed up to 5 times more often than a profile that has been filled out carelessly.
It is important that your answers to the free text questions generally make sense. If they are too out of context, other members will not be able to understand your intention, which will only lead to confusion.
Our moderators give you a lot of freedom here, but the following rules must be observed:
Discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated.
Posts with a commercial background, such as requests to purchase services and goods.
Extremism of any kind will not be accepted.
Personal contact details such as email address, phone number, or address.
Information about whether you are a premium member or not.
Obscene content will be rejected immediately.
Empty content, filler characters, or information consisting exclusively of emojis.
A little tip for your status message: Use it to describe how you are feeling today—emojis are allowed here too!
Examples of free text questions:
√ I am proud that... I get along well with my family
A very good example: Members can understand the meaning and also learn that family is important to you.
√ I am proud that... I find pride to be a complex emotion that I cannot identify with.
A good example: Members can understand the meaning and see that the member has thought about the question—which is perfectly fine.
X I am proud that... I enjoy eating.
Bad example: The answer to this question does not make sense and is therefore rejected by our bouncers. However, if the answer were “I am proud that... I am a good cook,” that would be a very good example.
Free premium membership at LemonSwan
LemonSwan provides special support to singles who are under a lot of stress due to their life situation. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were around 2.2 million single mothers and around 407,000 single fathers in Germany in 2019. Being a single parent often goes hand in hand with high financial burdens. Similarly, students and people in training often have very limited financial resources at their disposal. That's why LemonSwan offers free premium membership for single parents, trainees, and students.
This applies to people with an annual gross income of less than EUR 35,000. Single parents with more than one child in their household can take advantage of this offer up to a gross income of EUR 50,000.
What proof can you submit for a free premium membership?
In order to take advantage of this fair service, you must of course prove that you actually belong to one of these three categories.
LemonSwan accepts the following proof for a free premium membership:
Single parents:
Proof of tax class 2
Tax return where single parent status is taken into account
Extended registration confirmation including child benefit notice
Official letters from which single parent status can be inferred
Letters from a lawyer/court
Students/trainees:
Certificate of enrollment
Current certificate of study
Training contract
In addition, you should explicitly ensure that our bouncers can recognize the name and date on the documents you submit. The certificates must also not be out of date.
Conclusion: a well-filled-out profile increases your chances of finding a partner online
We have laid our cards on the table and shown you what rules you should follow so that you can not only become a member of LemonSwan, but also create a successful profile. Because that is the goal of our bouncers—a balanced and high level of members who have only serious intentions. Our gatekeepers are by no means there to annoy you; on the contrary, they are there for you and want to support you in your search for a partner—like a good friend who does the pre-selection for you because she only wants the best for you. So it's worth the effort!
