Online Dating has become one of the most successful and profitable markets in our society.
But can the quest for love be really commercialized? Is love becoming a transaction? If something characterizes the last two decades it is undoubtedly the cultural, social and economic changes that the internet has brought: the cultural switch from the offline to the online scene, the economic system of the sharing economy and the explosion of the apps.
In a society where speed, immediacy and ownership command our daily decisions, how can something as subjective and unpredictable as love still survive? Love and dating have become a hot topic (or perhaps they’ve always been…?) from the extremists who claim that dating is dead to the die-hard romantics who wait for Cupid’s arrow to strike. Whether the societal crisis of love and dating is real or not, what’s noticeable is that the online dating market saw an opportunity and went for it. So what has online dating done for the way we date in society?
- The capitalization of romance?
- What are the effects of online dating on our society?
- Is Online dating changing our romantic habits and has it empowered women?
- What are the effects of online dating on our society
- Is Online dating changing our romantic habits and has it empowered women?
We invite you to explore with us a behind-the-scenes of online dating… we will delve into the backstage areas of this multi-million market to see if Online Dating is shaping the future of Love…
The numbers back it up…
With 91 million people worldwide using dating apps and 289.1 million of online dating users in the world according to Statista, it seems that nowadays – similar to ordering a kettle on Amazon with guaranteed next-day delivery – you can find your dating match in a window of 12 hours. It is a remarkably powerful promise that convinces millions of singles across the world to sign up; online dating users expected to grow to 338 million by 2021.
Leading the way, the United States with an Online Dating market volume of US$ 666 million in 2017, followed by China and the United Kingdom. A glowing industry indeed with a worldwide revenue that amounts to US$ 1,389 million estimated in 2017 and is expected to show an annual growth rate of 3.3%.
The dating sites and dating apps have consistently developed with the years new ways of communicating that have had an important effect on personal interactions and the way relationships form. But you might wonder, how has technology managed to conquer our finest sense of humanity: the capacity of being in love? Well, technology seems to have become an antidote to fear and rejection: the two archenemies of love and romance. The Online Dating ecosystem can therefore begin its conquest offering an innovative place in which you can have unlimited access to the following: evaluating others, computer-mediated communication in different ways and matching services via mathematical algorithms.
The problem?
If we start using the screens as a defensive mechanism, then computer-mediated communication can easily lead to unrealistic expectations… The online world gives you access to a greater pool of people, in the case of online dating, a greater pool of potential partners. However, in such a populated sector, one must engage in what’s called the “mindful search”: when online daters are exposed to “both hyper-personal and idealized impressions”, according to therapist Jane Buder, where “the tensions of enhancement versus authenticity are explained in terms of social desirability, self-deception and selective self-presentation”, then it becomes essential to establish a set of rules to efficiently filter your potential match.
To sum up, if you want to find love and to meet potential matches, it is essential to explore your actual self and your ideal self to find a balance in your romantic expectations. One of the most promising advantages of online dating is undoubtedly the access to potential partners and the possibility to prioritize distinctive criteria through a mindful search of your match. But as we asked before, is technology changing society of just creating an online replica? Have romantic habits changed?
Online Dating sites have disrupted our romantic habits…
the cyberspace romance has slowly started to gain more devotees and the romantic ideals of love at first sight seem to be evolving little by little towards a different kind of chemistry… The digital chemistry refers to a deep, close and intimate connection that started online and that can be then continued offline. However, it is important to note that our modern concept of love already started with the telegraph and has slowly evolved towards a kind of romance in which the figure of the soul-mate still plays a key role in our search for being accepted and understood.
Stigmas attached to online dating are slowly disappearing and successful online dating practices based on the optimization of the amount of words on the dating profile, the selection of adequate dating pictures and the creation of personal algorithms for a mindful search are becoming the rules for a successful love story. Online dating has proven that it has more to offer than deceptive profiles and false promises. On the contrary, singles are becoming educated thanks to online dating blogs and using it to their advantage.
Online dating has become a platform that has completely transformed communication, and communication itself has given subtle cues such as misspellings or personality traits which can be important clues to expose true personalities. Stronger bonds, deeper intimacy and instantaneous meetups are the basis of online dating, a continuously growing market that has managed to seduce singles (and even non singles!) all over the world. This is hardly surprising if we consider that we, as humans, have an innate desire to engage in intimate relationships.
Are we then looking for love in a different way?
What’s for sure is that love has evolved through history in different manners, from the romantic ideal, to an exchange of properties and cattle to the game of finding love. Right now, we are in the middle of a movement, a journey of transformation, searching for love’s redefinition. The game is on, do you want to be part of it?