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By Rachel Chou
It’s not often we’re forced to answer the question “Who am I?” In fact, it can be a difficult self-reflection for those of us still figuring that question out ourselves. Boiling down your wealth of personal information into 100 characters for dating profiles, job applications, college applications, a roommate matching profile, etc., for stranger’s consumption no less, can be daunting, but it’s an incredibly important window into who you are for those who may end up your roommates. Feeling stuck? Here are some tips if you’re having trouble writing your RoomZoom bio.
1. Put yourself in another person’s shoes
Imagine yourself meeting a potential roommate for the first time. You meet at your favorite local coffee shop, sitting across from them at a small round table. You’re taking mental notes, trying to decipher who this person is underneath the surface. What questions would you ask? Write these down and you’ll find that most of them are probably the basics. Then, answer them yourself. When we first meet people, however strenuous small talk may be, it’s important to know basic information as a baseline for understanding who a person is. What are their needs and do they match yours?
2. Try to avoid vague statements
If you find your bio littered with a lot of vague statements about yourself such as, “I like to go to the gym and eat food”, it may be helpful to go back in and add specifics about those things. Think about adding justifications for or specific examples of that thing. For example, “I like to go to the gym because of the communal atmosphere. I’m an extrovert so I enjoy being around people and meeting new friends.” or, “I’m a big foodie. My favorite restaurant is Momofuku because I’m a big ramen person. Maybe we can go there sometime.” If you add details about yourself, it’s more likely you’ll have a better match. It also makes you sound less robotic and more of a person that one would want to meet and live with!
3. Length
We’re looking for the goldilocks of bios here. Not too long but not too short. There’s no need to include your entire backstory on every place you moved to before NYC, or a thought piece on nicomachean ethics. Unless that is, these are important window into your soul or evoke some strong essence of your personality.
4. Spellcheck
What does it say about someone to have an atrocity of spelling and grammatical errors in the world of spell check? Oftentimes people speak the way they write.
5. Judge Yourself Less
Think your use of emojis is too much? Thought you sounded weird when you wrote, “I like to collect figurines of superheroes and keep them in their original packaging?”. Keep the “weird” details in your bio and the odds of you making the perfect match go up. The sweet spot is being presentable to others in a way that is still true to yourself.
6. Still stuck? Here are some questions you can answer:
What were you like in previous roommate situations?
What is your ideal roommate situation?
What are hobbies or things you’re obsessed with, what do you do in your free time?
Are you a New York native or moving in from another town or country?
What do people often say about you?
What do you do on weekends?
HAPPY ROOMMATE HUNTING ! ✌️
