Everything is on the Internet now: shops, magazines, books, education, even buying groceries is now somewhat more convenient online. It’s not just another trend. It’s the new way of living – and Western people love it. Talking about people. Obviously, human relationships and communication in general found their place among other online activities. And here’s where the most important question arises: does online communication ruin the society? And while it’s too soon to answer it, we gladly present you top 5 bizarre yet real facts about online dating. It will help you understand the nature of this phenomenon better.
- The industry grows faster than the blink of an eye. Only by estimating the U.S. market of online dating ($2.2 billion in 2014, a 3.5 percent per annum increase since 2008), you can understand that meeting people online makes a lot of money for big companies. And it’s not only about pre-paid dating applications and services. Most people prefer to use free dating sites (or, at least, those providing freemium services). How do companies make money on those users? Advertisements, of course. Using a free dating app, you wouldn’t mind skipping an add or two.
- International dating is popular too. Location-based applications are showing the biggest growth at this moment. However, there’s their older and more experienced brother – international dating sites. The interest in the representatives of other ethnicities and countries never subsides; in fact, as our world becomes more globalized, this curiosity only develops. You may find a lot of sites focused on particular ethnicities, pina-love.com for example, that provide you with profiles of people from the countries you are interested in. Overall, cultural exchange is awesome and the most beautiful and healthy children are born into interracial couples. Why not?
- The statistics show that people still meet offline more often. There’s a popular opinion among Western scientists that most young couples are made online. Today, it’s only 5% of people who are in a committed relationship or married met their better halves on the Net. Still, it’s a great number of people. Everyone has a couple or two among their closest peers who managed to meet their significant others online. Even you do – just ask them! It’s not only about dating services but also social networks or content-related applications. Why don’t you text the girl who’s boards on Pinterest are quite similar to yours?
- Most people lie about something online. Whether it’s one’s height or job title, something is always untruthful in a dating profile. Of course, it may not be applied to 100% of users; likewise, users with fraudulent intentions are left out of this statistic. There’s something about this special feeling that you can create your better self online that makes people hyperbolize or remain silent about some of the features they possess. The odds are your interlocutor will never find out if you are honest or not unless you meet offline. And that is when the problems arise.
- Online dating makes people picky. In real life, if you are a shy guy, you will be quite satisfied when your attempts to get a girl work out. But on the Internet, even the humblest person risks becoming judgmental and fastidious. The limitless access to dating profiles and the possibility to create deceitful images of oneself make people worse than they really are. Even if they don’t manage to appoint a meeting or achieve any kind of online dating success, they still remain satisfied with their experience – but it has nothing to do with actual dating success. Choosing and making decisions based on your preferences is okay; judging is not.
