There was once a time where the only way to make a connection with someone was to do so in person. But with the explosion in popularity of the internet, it is possible to make connections with people from literally anywhere around the globe.
Because of that, online dating has become one of the premier methods through which people find a partner. But what kind of impact have dating sites had? What is it like out there in the online dating world?
The popularity of online dating
First, let’s look into the popularity that online dating has in society today. There are still some apparent trends that show that online dating isn’t the all-encompassing thing that we may have assumed it to be.
For instance, online dating is still more popular among the younger generation than it is with older people. More than 50% of people under 30 have reported using a dating app or site while just 37% of people 30-49 have. To build on that, just 20% of people aged 50-64 have used online dating. As dating apps diversify, niche platforms are gaining traction—such as those designed for specific faith communities like a Catholic dating app, which caters to users looking for values-aligned connections.
These numbers have jumped exponentially in a relatively short period of time. Even 10 years ago, the prospect of meeting someone through online dating was considered niche in comparison to traditional methods.
The first impact of online dating: dishonesty
One of the first questions that everyone inherently asks about online dating is whether people are being honest about who they are. After all, until you get to know that person, how do you know if they are who they say?
For that very reason, the majority of online daters feel that people are being dishonest in their profile in order to appear more desirable. A whopping 71% of online dating users believe that it is very common for people to lie in their profiles. Nearly 50% believe that there are people setting up fake account sin order to potentially scam others.
This underscores an inherent level of distrust and dishonesty that has become prevalent in online dating. Half the battle is getting past this first obstacle to find out more about the person rather than inherently trusting their online profile.
The second impact of online dating: men feel neglected
Another major problem is that as many as 43% of online users feel that they don’t get enough messages back. It will not be a shock to find out that 57% of men feel that they don’t get enough messages compared to the 30% of women who feel that they get too many.
One of the tropes of online dating has been the imbalance in communication. Men are oftentimes more aggressive in communicating, sending several messages in a shorter span. Women, meanwhile, will ignore incoming messages if they don’t feel that instant connection. This can lead to feelings of disdain and rejection for those who wish to receive more interaction.
The third impact of online dating: harassment
Of course, in the aforementioned section, it isn’t simply women ignoring men because they don’t like them. Women face harassment in the online space now more than ever, with reports of rude behavior being more commonplace.
Roughly 30% of women say that they were contacted after stating that they had no interest. The problem being that the messages received were either explicit, offensive, or showing an image that was not asked for. Online dating for women remains a challenge because the aspect of anonymity empowers some users to use harassing speech and behavior rather than moving on or simply accepting the wishes of fellow users.
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