Not on Tinder, but your photo is? St. John's playwright gets a kick out of phoney profile
People on dating apps like Tinder know that one of the challenges can be figuring out if the person you're chatting with is actually the person in the photo, and for one St. John's man, the revelation that his photo was being used on an account was a hilarious worry.
"I'd like to think that this person is just, I dunno, shy? And for some reason thought that my image would be the one to use?" says St. John's playwright Robert Chafe.
"I'm absolutely gobsmacked."
Earlier this week, Chafe got a text from a friend, asking him if he was on Tinder.
He wasn't, but his photo certainly was.
"And then she sent me a picture of me — she sent me a picture of myself — with the moniker of 'Ed' and a very flattering age of 39 attached," Chafe said, laughing.
"I just howled with laughter. I thought it was the funniest, funniest thing."
It was a good laugh for Chafe and his friends, who said this 'Ed' person likely didn't know much about Chafe.
"A lot of people know that I'm a gay man, so it's very strange to be on a straight dating site representing yourself with my image trying to pick up women," Chafe told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.
'They think it's me!'
Chafe posted the photo of the fake profile on his Facebook page, and has since heard from plenty of people in the comments who have had the same thing happen to them — finding out their photo is being used in an online dating profile that they aren't running.
But on further thought, Chafe realized it is kind of strange to have an unknown person misrepresenting his face.
"When I started thinking about it this morning still finding it really funny … I just hope this Ed guy isn't, like — obviously he's not going to meet up with anyone because he doesn't look like me," he said.
"But just the weird thing is, God, I hope he's not being a jerk to women online. They think it's me! I'm expecting to walk into Dominion one day and get a smack in the face or something for something that 'Ed' has said to them."
On its website, Tinder has a section about what people can do if they find out someone is using their photos or personal information on its app.
Screengrabs of the accounts work best, plus any other information someone can find about the user impersonating them.
'Be brave, use your own picture'
For Chafe, going public about the amusing problem is important, at least so his friends know it is indeed not him.
"In case anything untoward does happen with that profile, or if anyone's feeling abused or denigrated by it, this was not Robert Chafe, I had nothing to do with that, I am 100 per cent not on Tinder trying to hook up with ladies," Chafe said.
"That is definitely, definitely not me. Sorry if that's disappointing to anybody."
And as for Ed, Chafe hopes he plucks up the courage to use his own profile next time.
"Yes, Ed, come on now. Be brave, use your own picture."
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