Dating keeps finding new ways to make people miserable. The latest trend clogging up timelines is “bio-baiting,” yep…sorry, a new term in dating lexicon. It’s a form of soft deception where people pad their dating profiles with half-truths that sound believable enough to slip by. It’s not quite catfishing, but it’s close enough to feel gross once you spot it.
The term surfaced after Yahoo! News reported on it, calling it the newest toxic dating habit to watch out for. Instead of lying outright, people who bio-bait exaggerate their jobs, interests, or personalities just enough to reel someone in. Think of the “writer” who’s posted two Medium blogs or the “traveler” whose passport has one stamp from Cancun. It’s the same energy as curating a life you don’t actually live.
Sex therapist and LGBTQ+ matchmaker Dr. Frankie Bashan told PRIDE that bio-baiting is “the act of exaggerating or over-curating one’s online dating profile bio to appear more appealing than reality.” The problem is that it feeds into a growing culture of performative authenticity, where everyone’s supposed to be real, but only in a way that photographs well.
What Is ‘Bio-Baiting’ and Why Is It So Dangerous?
Dylan Thomas Cotter, trans activist and author of Transgender & Triggering, said that bio-baiting is about creating a “misleading dating profile that really talks someone up to be something they are not.” He called it another manipulative dating strategy in a long line of them, the kind that plays on confidence issues and the pressure to appear desirable.
In a world where dating apps double as branding tools, small fabrications start to look like survival tactics. Dr. Bashan believes many people do it because honesty feels like a disadvantage. Social media has trained users to chase validation instead of connection, she said, and “being honest about who they are just doesn’t feel like enough.”
That leaves daters trying to decode what’s real. Experts say to look out for vague answers, inconsistent stories, or people who dodge video calls. Anyone avoiding specifics about their job, home, or friends might be more invested in their image than in meeting you.
Bio-baiting comes from the same place most dating disasters do—fear and insecurity. It’s the digital version of good lighting and strategic angles. As Cotter put it, “Confident, well-adjusted human beings do not engage in deceptive dating practices.” The real green flag is someone who is comfortable enough to show up as they actually are.
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