After The Bell: What does your WhatsApp profile picture say about you?

Before a business meeting, many people once checked their appearance in a mirror. Now, with fewer face-to-face meetings and more conversations on Zoom, Teams and WhatsApp, that first impression often begins with a small profile picture.

The writer describes receiving hundreds of WhatsApp messages each day across numerous social and professional groups. Those groups form a collection of small communities, including family, school, neighborhood and workplace circles. Looking through them reveals a wide variety of ways people choose to present themselves.

Some users display an ordinary portrait. Others appear with a partner, especially younger people at the beginning of a relationship. Some use a picture of their partner alone, which can create confusion, particularly when the partners are the same sex. Many mothers with daughters old enough to have their first phone use an image of the child, perhaps to show how important she is to them.

The writer says they would avoid displaying their own children, because everyone in every WhatsApp group could see what they look like. In professional circles, some people use photographs taken during interviews with traditional media. That choice, the writer suggests, may be an attempt to project legitimacy and show prospective clients or employers that they are important.