HUMOUR THE BEST WAY TO THE HEART

The online dating scene is fraught with empty bravado, false promises and missteps. But instead of posting heavily edited, picture-perfect photos, some would-be lovers have opted for a more humorous take, and have gained sizeable online traction along the way.

Singaporean Kelly Lim, 26, posted a PowerPoint presentation last Sunday on why dating app users who come across her profile should "swipe right" - Tinder parlance for finding the person attractive. In six succinct slides, she shows off with aplomb her best points, namely her independence, Brazilian jiu-jitsu expertise, child-bearing hips and business acumen.

The post, riddled with self-deprecating humour, garnered close to 5,000 likes, comments and shares on Facebook.

It was picked up by local humour site Sgag and news site Mothership, among several other sites.

It also attracted the attention of 25-year-old Goh Yong Wei.

Mr Goh, a self-employed business owner, posted his own hilarious reply to Ms Lim's viral post with the hashtag #FindYourWei.

His opening salvo - a photo of himself posing with some random items found in a science laboratory - has the caption: "All these chemicals, yet we have no chemistry."

In another slide, he says: "I may be 170cm but I can tiptoe to match your height. With your genes and mine... our kids will be just nice."

Mr Goh tells The Sunday Times that he did not have great expectations vying for Ms Lim's affections. "I'm just doing it for fun. I enjoy making people laugh."

He adds: "I'm not looking for a partner yet; if love comes then it'll come, but for now, my priorities are working on my investment and career portfolio in order to retire earlier."

Opting for humour in an extremely competitive ecosystem of online dating is nothing new.

In August this year, Mr Niket Biswas, a software engineer at Facebook, made waves when he uploaded his presentation slides on Tinder. He posted his "trajectory of growth", which took in attributes such as "lovability", and included testimonials from former girlfriends which were far from flattering.

Another notable profile was Tinder user Lauren, 21, who lost one arm in an accident.

Lauren, who calls herself an "arms dealer", says she is "hands down the best catch on Tinder".

Her online popularity has done wonders for her crowdfunding effort to buy a new bionic arm, raising more than US$36,000 (S$48,440)in a year.

The fact that Ms Lim and Mr Goh's posts have gone viral is testament to the fact that Singaporeans, for the most part, do love a good chuckle.

That is not all; the duo met for the first time at a bar near Bugis last week. Asked about his expectations, Mr Goh says: "A nice cold beer and a photo of us while I hover my hand above Kelly's shoulders in awkwardness while I tiptoe to match her height."

YOUTUBE BANS MAN WHO POSTS VIDEOS OF HIS DAUGHTERS

Mr Greg Chism is a single father of two young girls, has a popular YouTube channel Toy Freaks with more than eight million subscribers and likes to dress as a baby. He makes his daughters, believed to be six and eight, do it too.

His videos often show his kids screaming in fear, bathing, pretending to be babies, spitting up food and vomiting, "peeing" and being force fed.

There are also several videos of his children reacting to animals, like frogs and lobsters, that he puts in their bath tub.

Mr Chism's content has drawn a large amount of flak.

Twitter user Lauren Nolan, for example, says Toy Freaks should not be allowed to exist.

"It's child abuse - people have been complaining for years yet @YouTube does nothing," she says.

YouTube, upon receiving numerous complaints, has finally terminated his accounts for violating the video provider's updated child endangerment policy, which parent company Google tweaked following reports of disturbing and bizarre videos aimed at children.

"We take child safety extremely seriously and have clear policies against child endangerment," a YouTube associate says.

Protesting his innocence, Mr Chism says: "While it is disturbing to me that anyone would find inappropriate pleasure in our video skits, I deeply appreciate YouTube's concerns for my family and I could not be happier with having had this remarkable experience."

DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE

A hashtag exposing how misleading some Instagram photos are has enjoyed a resurgence in recent months.

Fitness enthusiasts have been using #30secondtransformation to show how easy it is to change a before-and-after picture simply by flexing and tweaking the angle in which you snap a photograph.

Ethan, an Instagram personality known for his dedication to cosplaying, posted a collage of himself in a relaxed pose, compared with a carefully prepared posed shot.

"There is more than meets the eye regarding these photos. A lot of fitness photos come down to angle and pose, and most of those people look a lot different when they're relaxed," he says.

The hashtag has inspired many Instagram users to be more honest with their posts going forward.