Has Online Dating Messed Up Our Beauty Standards?

It's no secret that an attractive picture can boost the success of your online dating profile. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, and users more often than not will post the pictures they look best in. But are our best pictures just overstating ourselves? According to Marina Adshade, economics professor and "Dollars and Sex" blogger, they are. New Online Dating Site Sends Potential Dates Direct To Your Inbox.

Per Jezebel, she argues, "Everyone can find at least one good picture of themselves. And if everyone puts their very best picture on their online dating profile (and why wouldn't they?), then anyone trying to estimate the distribution of attractiveness using dating profile pictures will almost certainly overestimate the average level of attractiveness for people of that gender who are searching on that market."

Adshade also argues that using their best picture is creating beauty inflation, and beauty inflation skews an individual's perceptions of their own value on the market. 6 Tips For A Perfect Online Dating Photo

So, we wonder: has online dating thrown beauty expectations out of whack?

On the one hand, it is disappointing when you go to meet your date, and they end up looking less attractive than what you expected. Take it from someone who's experienced this first hand, it can be very awkward. 4 Big Online Dating Don’ts

But our best picture doesn't necessarily mean we're overstating ourselves (our value). Our best picture could be of us showing off what makes us different, i.e. radical eyewear or a tattoo. So maybe what's really out of whack is the assumption that a pretty face is what constitutes a great date. At the end of the day, your personality and charm are what really win someone over, whether you cropped out what you believe to be imperfect or not.

Tell us: do you think online dating leads to "beauty inflation"?