The Rise of Online Dating

Technology today has shaped the way humans date. What once used to be written and sent through mail, can now be typed and delivered in less than a minute. Social media gives people the ability to not only reconnect with people who they may have once known, but to meet new people as well. This allows for people to make connections faster and easier than ever before. With the rise of online dating came the rise of online relationships. When online dating sites first gained notoriety, people were hesitant. Throughout the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, opinions and stereotypes formed in belief that online dating was only for desperate people. As stigma formed, people who dated online were looked down upon by the public, and the media. Today, opinions on internet dating have changed. One can rarely watch a show on television without seeing the ads for different sites. An estimated 66% of people in the United States have gone on at least one date with someone they met online. This dramatic change in opinion happened over a very short period of time. The dramatic change in opinions about dating online has occurred because of the popularity of sites like Match.com, and the change in efficiency of our generation’s usage of the internet.

Using the internet to date has become not only easy, but efficient. Since the rise in personal computers in the early 1990’s, the internet has an outlet for all types of information. Today, children born in this time period would be in their twenties. It is no surprise then that the most common age group on both Match.com and Tinder, are twenty year olds. This demographic has been the most accustomed to computer usage since birth, and a part of the most technologically savvy generation yet. According to a study on internet usage today, over 84 percent of Americans are online, as opposed to the 54 percent that were online in 2000. The number of people online has increased dramatically, and more people are beginning to experience all the internet has to offer. This, paired with the popularity in the use of the internet among twenty year olds, is part of why so many young people have turned to online dating.

Match.com is able to attract people of all ages. Though the 25-34 year old age range is the most commonly found on Match.com, the second most common age group is people aged 35-44. This age group surpasses the average age of marriage in the United State (27), and therefore more people in this age range will be looking for a long term partner. Dating offline can be more difficult for someone in this age group. Singles this age may feel the need to skip the chase and settle down quickly, and it is not always easy to find like-minded people through normal methods of dating. Because of the personalization of a profile on sites like Match or Tinder, people are able to cut to the chase and tell people exactly what they want out of a relationship. To this age group, it is also reassuring that Match.com is responsible for more dates, relationships, and marriages than any other dating site.

Marriage is not the only goal for people dating online. Along with websites, apps are another easy and popular method of dating online. Apps like Tinder are known for their ease and simplicity, as well as a perfect mobile alternative to any site. With an app, anyone can carry a night out in their pocket. It has become an easy way for people to connect without strings attached. Though Tinder isn’t only a “hookup” app, it’s casual nature and chat feature makes it less daunting for those who aren't as good at socializing , and less time consuming for someone who wants to cut straight to the chase. In a Vanity Fair article, writer Nancy Jo Sales interviewed men and women in various New York bar scenes, all of which where the majority of adults there were on tinder or another dating app. “I’m on Tinder, Happn, Hinge, OkCupid,” Nick says. “It’s just a numbers game. Before, I could go out to a bar and talk to one girl, but now I can sit home on Tinder and talk to 15 girls—” Men (and women) like Nick are able to chat with many people at the same time, all in the comfort of their homes. Both apps and websites have changed the setting of today’s dates, by conducting conversations online.

It is clear that people have become more accepting of online dating. Though it is now something that many people are unashamed to admit, the results of its popularity have changed the dating field. In almost all urban areas in the United States, young people have access to the internet, a luxury their parents didn’t have. In most interconnected cities, the internet is now a pillar of dating. Whether or not more options lead to greater happiness will be harder to determine, but in the meantime, the popularity of dating online is only expected to rise.

Works CIted:

Smith, Aaron, and Monica Anderson. "5 Facts about Online Dating." Pew Research Center RSS. N.p., 20 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Sept. 2015. <http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/20/5-facts-about-online-dating/>.

Match.com Fact Sheet 2013. Match.com, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2015. <file:///home/chronos/u-65bf3a743848201f5796144590122dc56d5b425d/Downloads/Match.com+Fact+Sheet+2013.pdf>.

Median Age at First Marriage: 1890 to Present. Digital image. United States Census Bureau, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2015. <http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/files/graphics/MS-2.pdf>.

Sales, Nancy Jo. "Tinder and the Dawn of the Dating Apocalypse." Vanity Fair. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2015. <http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/08/tinder-hook-up-culture-end-of-dating>.