THE ASSOCIATED PRESS — Jan 23 — "Think of it as going to a party," says Jesse Keller of Personals Trainer. "If you have a great profile, it's like being the life of the party. But most profiles are like the guy wearing the same outfit as everyone else, standing alone in the corner, murmuring monosyllabic answers." Show, don't tell. "Don't tell me you're athletic — tell me about the marathon you just ran," said Eric Resnick of ProfileHelper"Don't say you like to travel — talk about your trip to the Great Wall of China."
Mark Brooks: Singles need help. Dating sites need to help them with guidance. Check out Lookbetteronline.com, and Profilehelper.com and e-cyrano.com. All great services headed by great people.

My BAR theory details what individuals believe are the more ideal online dating profiles. I would agree that this is partly to do with appearing more original.
This is discussed in the following book:
Whitty, M. T. & Carr, A. N. (2006). Cyberspace romance: The psychology of online relationships. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.