The unflattering picture that got me 30 dates

Julia had previously focused on capturing her best angles, not on expressing her personality. Photo / Supplied

I hate to admit it but I am a veteran in the dating app space. I've been at it for years, but with no real success.

So after yet another bad date, I decided I had to change how I project myself to all the mystery men in cyberspace.

Instead of the usual pics showing all my best angles and come hither poses, I decided to go rogue. How rogue, you ask? This rogue.

Julia D'Orazio's epic stack while sandboarding in Chile. Photo / Supplied

This is a picture of spectacularly stacking it while sandboarding down a dune in Chile, spaghetti legs in the air, face literally eating desert sand.

"Why not make someone choke on their cornflakes at breakfast and have a laugh at my expense?" was my initial thought.

But it goes deeper than that — this picture actually shows something I want someone to notice about me; that I have the ability to laugh at myself. That I don't take myself too seriously and I am not afraid to give anything a go.

And it turns out showcasing my biggest failure has been the one thing that has brought me the most success in online dating.

I have never had so many men getting in touch as I did after I posted that photo. Literally dozens of messages came flooding in from more than 30 men who had presumably been swiping left on me for months (years?).

"Cheers — this has made my day."

"This looks like a meme with the title 'trying to succeed at life'."

"Hey Jules, so you know that pic makes me happy — an absolute belter."

"I guess your ego wasn't too badly bruised by this one."

"Your face plant is a thing of beauty."

"One of the best photos I have ever seen — get a mouthful?"

"This is the best picture I have ever seen here."

"My usual position snowboarding."

"Talk me through this sandboarding slam."

I did ask some why they were attracted to my epic fail and the answers made me smile:

"Everyone posts photos of how cool they are and so posting a photo of you totally wiping out gets me good. (The fastest way to my heart is via some excellent physical comedy.)"

"The fact that you're obviously able to laugh at yourself is very attractive."

"Everyone has their standard photos of themselves but you've got this awesome shot of you absolutely eating it in the sand and I found it so good!"