Why Boo Makes You Verify Before You Can Chat

Boo makes you verify before you can chat as a safety measure against fake accounts and scams. To do it, make sure your first photo is a clear picture of your face, then open your own page, tap Edit and select Verification. Once you pass, a blue checkmark appears next to your username and you can start talking to people.

Fake accounts and scams turn up on every dating app. A man who has spent any time on the apps has probably met a few. The photos look lifted from a model's portfolio. The chat turns into a sad story. The story ends with a request for money. Boo's answer is to make every user prove there is a real face behind the account before they can chat.

It can feel like a hoop, especially when you just want to reply to someone. But it works in your favor. The same rule that slows you down for a few minutes is meant to stop fake accounts from ever reaching you.

Start with your photos, not the button. Your first photo needs to be a clear picture of your face, because that is the photo verification is checking.

Then go to your profile, tap Edit, and select Verification. Follow the steps Boo gives you. When you pass, a blue checkmark appears next to your username.

The check needs a clear view of your face, and a dim room is what most often gets in the way. So set yourself up before you tap anything.

Stand facing a window in daylight, or in a bright room where the lamp is ahead of you and not at your back. Remove anything that hides part of your face, such as sunglasses or a hat. Keep the phone level with your eyes. And make sure your first photo shows the same thing: your face, clearly, with nobody else in the frame.

This is worth doing well anyway, because your first photo is the one every woman judges first. a dating coach wants every man to own a couple of photos that show his face in good light and properly framed, since a woman's first decision is whether she finds him attractive. If your current first photo is a dim shot from a bar or a group picture from a wedding, verification is a good reason to replace it.

The blue checkmark sits next to your username, where women can see it. It tells her a real person with that face is on the other end.

Women on dating apps worry about fakes too, and the checkmark removes one reason for her to hesitate. It will not make anyone like you. It just means the question she is asking is whether she likes you, not whether you are real.

The checkmark only covers your face in your first photo, though, so let the rest of your photos tell the same truth. If your other pictures are from five years and fifteen pounds ago, you passed verification and still set up a disappointing first date. Use recent photos that look like the man who will walk into the bar. The goal is for her to recognize you the moment you arrive and think you look the same as your photos, or better. Nobody enjoys a first date that starts with quietly adjusting their expectations.

Once you are verified, do not waste the conversations you have been waiting to start by opening with "hey."

Start with the women who already sent you requests, since they have shown interest. Reply with something specific from her page and a bit of personality. Keep it to a line or two. Then move toward a plan within a few messages instead of chatting for a week. coach has found that a woman who has talked to you on the phone before the date almost always shows up, while plans made purely over text flake far more often. So once the conversation is going well, suggest the call.

If it does not go through, the cause is almost always the light or the first photo. Try again in better light, with a first photo that clearly shows your face. If automatic verification still will not pass you, you can ask for manual verification by Boo's team.

One more thing to know. After you are verified, any change to your first photo, whether you add, swap or delete it, can trigger a fresh check. So choose your first photo before you verify, and you will not have to do it twice.