A new study on the popularity of online dating has just been released by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. The findings are not terribly surprising, but interesting none the less. 38% of single Americans (overall) say they have used online dating or a mobile dating app. 59% of internet users as a whole agree that online dating is a good way to meet people and this number has risen by 14% points since 2005. Now for the statistic every single person wants- 11% of people who started a committed relationship over the past decade met their partner online.
It appears that online dating is most popular with men and women between the ages of 25-34 years old, only 10% in the 18-24 year old group have tried it, those 35-44 are at 17%, and the 45+ folks are below 10% and drop steadily after 65. Seems like it’s lower at both ends of the age spectrum- and this makes sense when we look at who those people are, their life stage, where they go, who they know- and their ease of access to social networks and other available singles. 46% of those surveyed over all age categories use dating sites to find a long-term relationship- while 25% said they just want to have fun. White people show a higher use over other races/ethnicities, but it’s not very significant. Those who have completed some college are the most represented and those without a high school diploma were underrepresented. It’s also interesting that the stigma of having met online has decreased- down to 21% from 29% eight years ago.
Not all the feedback was positive as about half the responders complained about someone they met who misrepresented themselves in their profile- and more than a quarter felt harassed by someone who had contacted them online. The study counted online dating sites and mobile dating apps as “online dating,” so this changes the comparison to earlier studies done when there were no dating apps.
No surprise is that match and eHarmony had the largest memberships- so if one is playing the numbers game, they are always worth exploring.
