Online Dating Leads to Marriage
Ok, you might not be looking for marriage from your online dating adventures, but if you are, statistics show that those who meet online and form a relationship go down the aisle much faster than those who meet in traditional ways. On average online daters have their weddings 18 months after they start dating, whereas those who meet in other ways get married around 42 months. Why is this? When you meet online you’ve selected this person because of how compatible you are. You already know you are a good match on paper. If you hit it off in person, it’s much more likely to feel ‘right’ than if you go through a longer period of getting to know each other from scratch.
Humping and Dumping Online
Around half of all young singles today have never asked anyone on a date face to face. Similarly, most young daters will also dump their dates by text or messenger. Is there anything wrong with this? No, not really, unless you’ve been in a long-term relationship. Asking someone out on a date online removes much of the fear of rejection, you don’t have to look anyone in the eye if they say no. It also gives you a shield and allows you to remain cool and collected when they say yes. And as for dumping, let’s be honest, the text dump is much easier to deal with for everyone concerned.
We’re Not Always As Fussy As We Think
This one might be the most surprising of all. When we sign up to a dating site we put in our preferences for who our ‘dream date’ would be, and at first we stick to this rigidly. Men send out far more messages than women and women are less likely to respond to messages than men. However, when either sex does respond, it’s not necessarily to the ‘type’ of person we’ve stated we’re looking for. The main reason for this seems to be in the message itself, a personal message rather than a ‘hey’ type message will get our attention and we’re more likely to respond, even if that person doesn’t match our initial preferences.
The Young and the Old!
Online dating used to be mainly for middle aged daters who had little time for going out and meeting people traditionally, but with the rise and rise of online dating the young have joined in and they like it! Online dating use by 18-24 year old’s has tripled in the last five years as young singles find they can incorporate this activity into the rest of their online world. Perhaps more surprising is that online dating use by the older end of the spectrum, 55-64, has doubled in the same time period. While the middle-aged daters signed up off the bat and are still there, the young, and the old, are joining in droves. It seems as the appeal of online dating keeps growing, everyone wants to get in on the action.