By Nancy Henry
Over 41 million people in the United States who have tried using online dating websites and apps to seek out their “true love”. In lieu of our generation’s obsession with social media, this is not at all surprising.
Even college students are making the switch to meeting their significant others online rather than at parties, bars or in class. Within the year of 2013, close to 20% of all marriages originated from a dating website such as Match, PlentyOfFish, and even Tinder. This number is only growing.
POF (PlentyOfFish) has over 10 million users, and 4.3 million of these users are active daily. This site in particular has become very popular on college campuses; users are matched with prospects that have similar interests within the surrounding area.
Tinder, the most popular dating site among 18-22 year old college students, accounts for 36% of all dating app users and has matched 75 million people since last August when the site was created. Why is it that Tinder attracts so many college students compared to the other websites?
The Huffington Post offers some explanation of Tinder’s success, particularly with women. Tinder eliminates fear of rejection and the possibility of, “creepers,” since the app only connects users who have expressed mutual interest. This way, you only receive messages from the cuties you have personally chosen.
What’s more is that Tinder, as well as most other dating sites, is quite the ego boost. In a world where women are surrounded by messages that make them feel bad about their bodies, the flattery that often comes with dating apps can make for a very positive experience for female users.
Similar to the way that online dating embraces many different body types, dating websites such as Grinder and Bender acknowledge their LGBT users to embrace their sexualities and maneuver through the LGBT community with much more ease than in past years.
These statistics glorify online dating but tend to ignore the negatives of the growing trend. For one, as we have seen firsthand on the MTV show, Catfish, it is much easier to lie about who you are over a computer or a smartphone. It is almost impossible to determine whether the person you are falling in love with is really the person they say they are.
The fear of being lied to through online dating is the #1 reason that it is avoided, but there is truly no difference between being lied to via mobile app and being lied to face-to-face. As human beings, we lie; regardless of your dating strategy, there is always a chance that you are being lied to.
Studies done by the Herald News found that men on dating websites tend to lie about their age and overall physical build, whereas women on dating websites lean more towards lies about their height and income. These may seem like insignificant white lies, but how can we ensure that this is all our potential life partner is fibbing about?
Another substantial reason that online dating is avoided is the idea that online dating is much more superficial than “real life” dating because much of it is based on pictures. However, when we are in a bar, we tend to only approach people who we are immediately attracted to, so once again there is not much difference here.
Based on all of the ever growing statistics and the new technology that matches people through dating apps, cyber dating may be the best way to meet your true love (or at least find a few fun hookups). Our society is nearly completely dependent on technology and the Internet, so we might as well take advantage of the new trend and give it a try – 75 million others have!