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How to take the perfect profile pic for social media sites

Your profile picture is more important than you might think. It’s your chance to make a good first impression on the world. That’s why you must know how to take the perfect profile picture for all your accounts.

Say you’re applying for a new job. Potential employers will run background checks on your social media presence. You need to have good pictures that show you at your best.

You might even want to run a check on yourself to get an idea of what other people are seeing. Here’s how to run a free background check on yourself. Here are a few ways to improve your LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram profile picture.

A few ways to look better on LinkedIn

This is incredibly important because it gives employers an idea of what you’ll look like at work. Choose a picture that shows how competent, influential and likable you are.

Not sure how that comes across in a picture? Just upload your LinkedIn profile picture to Photofeeler, a free picture rating website. Strangers will let you know how you come across.

Instead of uploading a picture with a toothy grin, take a professional photo with a slight smile. You want to look friendly without showing too much enthusiasm. Also, use a picture that has a blurred background so the person viewing your profile can focus on your face.

How to take the perfect profile picture for Facebook

Family shots are a great option. After all, Facebook is all about connecting with other people, so it makes sense to pick a photo of you with loved ones. Just make sure you’re the focal point of the picture.

Improve your look on Instagram

We recommend picking an action-oriented photograph. Show yourself doing something you love. For example, if you like surfing, show yourself riding those waves.

Instagram is more personal than LinkedIn and less family-oriented than Facebook. It’s okay to let your hair down a little. Just make sure you don’t get too comfortable, or you might put off employers.

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Looking for work? 5 mistakes that will hurt your chances of getting hired

Social media is a place where we can loosen up a little. You can post jokes, silly pictures, or whatever on Instagram, X, Facebook and more. Unlike most social media sites, our sponsor, LinkedIn, is pretty buttoned-up.

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Up your phone photography game

🤳 Who has an actual camera anymore?

Spend $13 on a phone tripod (12% off) instead of leaning your phone on a pile of books every time you want to take a family photo. It comes with a remote, too.
Beach vacay planned and don’t want to buy a GoPro? A waterproof phone pouch saves you $200.
No amount of Photoshop will save that smudged Christmas dinner pic. (Blame the ham.) If only you’d had a microfiber cleaning cloth (30% off, $7) …
Facebook Marketplace hack: If you use a white backdrop, the stuff you’re selling looks a lot fancier. Only $10!
A clip-on selfie light is great for stuff like selfies, Zoom meetings and taking your own passport pictures (with the white backdrop!).

🤑 FYI: Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program can save you a bunch on the essentials you always use. I use it for vitamins and other things I never want to run out of.

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

📈 Facebook ad tip for small-biz owners: Use Engagement Custom Audiences to target people who’ve already interacted with your content (e.g., someone who has liked one of your posts or watched a video). This cuts the cost of getting a qualified lead. Love that! To get started, go to Ads Manager > Audiences > Create a custom audience. <a href=”https://www.komando.com/getsmallbiz/” trigger-id=”4779805″>Then, be sure to try my upcoming small-biz newsletter</a> for more smarts like this.

Why the founder of Craigslist isn't a billionaire

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Craig Newmark started the classified site 30 years ago from his San Francisco apartment. He told me why he never took VC money, how he thinks about OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace, and why the site still looks straight out of 1995 all these years later.

More like Fakebook: If you see a Facebook post about an armed serial killer on the loose, specifically one with this guy’s face, don’t believe it. Right now, the hoax is spreading around Missouri, but posts just like this one have been shared in Facebook groups in California, Colorado, Georgia, Texas and Arizona. The guy whose face keeps getting reused? Already in jail.

75% of Facebook sharesHappen without clicking the article

75% of Facebook sharesHappen without clicking the article. Between 2017 and 2020, researchers checked 35 million URLs. Surprise, many people fell for clickbait headlines and short blurbs instead of actually reading the stories. Extreme political posts on both sides got the most shares. No shocker there.

Tech steps to take before you die

It’s a grim topic, but we have to think about what happens to all our online accounts, data, notes, photos, videos, websites, playlists, blogs and subscriptions once we’re gone. Do your loved ones a favor and get this sorted out beforehand.

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Security tip: Next time you stay at a hotel, turn on your VPN

Did you know the average American spends more than 24 hours each week online? That is a considerable chunk of time.

If you’re one of many with multiple devices regularly accessing the internet, you probably know you need a secure connection to protect sensitive data. A virtual private network or VPN is the best way to do this.

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5 things Gen Z won't do

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What gives? These kids grew up with Google! Plus, a woman gave $850,000 to a scammer impersonating Brad Pitt, fake serial killer post on Facebook and a TikTok ban update.

⚱️ Missing an urn? A family in Kansas City found one sitting in the back of an Uber, and the driver sent them off with it. Now, they’re looking for its rightful owner. There’s no label, serial number, and writing on the bottom or inside of the lid. See it here on their Facebook page.

💸 $50K Facebook payout: A Georgia lawyer’s Facebook account got hacked and used to share child porn. Meta deleted the account, along with all his family photos, so he sued. When they missed the deadline to respond, the guy hired a private investigator to track down a Meta bank account. Bam, a judge awarded him $52,325.89. I wonder how many others will follow suit.

Nothing’s more expensive than a cheap boat: Facebook Marketplace is full of deals, but this one might take the cake. Jason Morrison scored a full-sized Cruisers Yacht for free. It’d been sitting abandoned for 15 years. With mold, engine issues and structural problems, it’s gonna need lots of expensive parts and tons of work before it can set sail. No, thanks!

Facebook doesn’t need to spy on your mic – what it does is scarier

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Your searches, purchases, and even doctor visits are tracked by 48,000 companies feeding Facebook. Plus, a widow scammed out of $661K, why athletes are ditching fitness trackers, and the EV trend losing to hybrids.

Can AI save Facebook? Meta hopes so. They’re rolling out AI avatars (paywall link) to pull in younger people. Robo-influencers are all the rage. Snapchat and TikTok are jumping on the bandwagon, too. It sounds strange, but I’ve read some of these AI-based virtual influencers make $10,000 per post. Maybe I’m in the wrong business.

I don’t want to see you anymore: On Facebook, go to your Memories page and select Hide People under Settings. Next, click the box for “Start typing a name …” and enter the name of the person you want to forget. Click Save.

So, you unwrapped something techy and you’re already having trouble. Before searching online for help, know it’s dangerous to Google tech company phone numbers.

Scammers work the system to get spoofed websites and numbers as the top search results via ads. Instead of waiting for a response to an online form, try calling the manufacturer or tech company directly. I’ve included links below in case you’d rather use a contact form or chat service:

Amazon: 888-280-4331; Amazon website
Microsoft: 800-642-7676; Microsoft support
Apple: 800-275-2273; Apple support
Google: 650-253-0000; Google support
Meta: 650-543-4800 (Heads-up: It’s hard to get someone to answer); Facebook support, Instagram support
Roku: 816-272-8106; Roku support
Samsung: 800-726-7864; Samsung support
PayPal: 888-221-1161; PayPal support

An older CEO, long past retirement, called IT for support. He asked, “How can I print this document?” IT said, “All you need to do is Ctrl + P.” The CEO replied, “I haven’t been able to do that for years!” (I heard you laugh!)

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Drug dealers going digital: Instead of lurking on street corners, they’re sliding into DMs and posting ads on Facebook. They’d get flagged for using the real words, so one workaround is communicating with emojis (e.g., snowflakes for cocaine and love hearts for psychedelics). About one in 10 young people has bought drugs over social media. Talk to your kids.

So you’ve spotted a scammer on Facebook: Do your good deed and report them. Go to the scammer’s profile, and, in the top right corner, click the three dots. Select Find support or report, then follow the on-screen prompts.

🚨 “A state of emergency”: That’s what some lawmakers in New Jersey are calling for, saying the massive drones spotted in their state are coming from an Iranian “mothership” off the East Coast. Meanwhile, almost 30,000 people are swapping theories in a dedicated UFO Facebook group.