Can You Post a Childhood Photo of Yourself on Tinder?

No. Tinder's Community Guidelines say you must be 18 or older, and that Tinder does not allow photos of unaccompanied or unclothed minors, including photos of your younger self. A shot of you at seven on a bike, or at the beach as a toddler, is the kind of photo that rule describes, however harmless it feels to you.

Tinder's rule has two parts. Tinder is for adults, and its guidelines say you must be 18 or older. And it does not allow photos of unaccompanied or unclothed minors, which Tinder spells out includes photos of your younger self.

That second clause is the one men miss. The rule is not only about other people's children. A throwback of you on your own as a boy is still a photo of an unaccompanied minor, even though the minor grew up to be you.

Tinder's safety tips add a related piece of advice for parents: limit what you share about your children on your profile.

Men reach for the childhood photo for decent reasons. It is funny. It shows you do not take yourself too seriously. It hints at a family you are close to. Sometimes it is simply the only photo you have of the old dog or the house you grew up in.

Those are all good things to show a woman. The childhood photo is just the wrong way to show them, and on Tinder it breaks the rules.

Every idea behind the throwback has a present-day version. If the point was humor, use a photo of you mid-laugh with friends. If it was family, use one from a recent family gathering, with the adults in it. If it was the town you grew up in, take a photo there on your next visit home.

a dating coach's view is that the photos that work best look like they were taken on a phone by a friend, in a real moment, because very staged photos read as try-hard. A candid shot from last month does everything the throwback was meant to do. It also shows her the man she would actually be sitting across from, which a photo from decades ago never can.

Some things are better told than shown. A line about the years you were sure you would pitch in the major leagues, or about family road trips in a car with no working air conditioning, does the job of the old photo. It also gives her something easy to ask you about.

Write it as one short, specific line rather than a life story. a dating coach's view is that photos do most of the work and that the written parts only get read once the photos have earned her attention. So one good line is plenty, and a line that makes her smile is better than three that explain you.

This is where Tinder's safety tips speak to you directly. They advise parents to limit what they share about their children.

If you are a father, say so in words. A woman who is serious about you will want to know, and a plain line tells her. Keep your children's faces, names, school and routine off the app. You can show her the photos in person, once you know each other and she has earned that trust.

You only get so many photos, and every one of them either helps you or wastes space.

a dating coach's advice is to test changes one photo at a time so you can see what is working. A childhood photo can never win that test, because it breaks the rules and says nothing about who you are now. Put a current photo in that slot, let it earn its place, and save the childhood stories for the date, where they land far better anyway.