Online dating has been a popular way of meeting people since Matchmaker.com was first created in 1986. From elderly bachelors to curious teens, online dating is a modern way for couples to meet.
According to Statistic Brain, there are approximately 54 million single people in the U.S., and out of those 54 million, 40 million have tried online dating sites. One in five singles are dating people they met online using a dating service and 20 percent of committed relationships begin online. Using the internet to find a boyfriend or girlfriend is now more popular than actually meeting in person.
The number of dating sites has increased significantly since 1986. It is estimated there are 1,500 dating sites in the U.S. alone. The most popular among these are Match.com, eHarmony.com, Plentyoffish.com and Perfectmatch.com. The list just goes on and on. According to Statistic Brain, eHarmony has approximately 20 million members and Match has around 15 million members. The majority of these members are actually males. Statistic Brain estimates 52.4 percent of online daters are male, while 47.6 percent are female.
In the past three years alone, 17 percent of marriages were between couples who met on an online dating source, and according to the Washington Post, 30 percent of those were through Match.com. A survey done by The Chadwick Martin Bailey research firm claims one out of six marriages are a result of online dating. That is at least twice as many as couples who met at bars or clubs, or at social events put together. This survey also claims online dating is the third most used method of finding a romantic partner. Statistically, marriages that form from online dating are not as successful as those formed offline. Statistic Brain claims the average length of an online couple’s marriage is approximately 18.5 months, while offline couples average approximately 42 months.
As an industry, online dating has proven to be very successful for the business owner. Statistic Brain claims the annual revenue from the industry is approximately $1,049 billion. An average customer to an online dating service is estimated to spend $239 a year just trying to find a site that works for them. According to Online Dating Magazine eHarmony charges $59.95 for a one month subscription, while Plentyoffish.com doesn’t charge anything.
While there are a lot of positive things that come with dating online, there are negative ones as well. It’s estimated 10 percent of sex offenders use online dating sites to try and meet people, and 53 percent of online daters claim to have dated more than one person simultaneously. Online dating isn’t for everyone and some don’t even risk it. Statistic Brain estimates 10 percent of users leave within the first three months of signing up for an online dating site and usually leave disappointed. According to Online Dating Magazine, some users use romance scams to drain accounts of money by having fake relationships with other users and gaining their trust.
Online dating, no matter your sex, preference, religion or race, is the new modern way of dating. Many people have dropped the old way of going out to bars or clubs and looking for partners, and are instead staying in the comfort of their own homes, surfing the web for the best services available. While users get the chance to meet new people they may not have had the chance to previously get to know, they also have the potential to lose the ability to physically connect with others. Whichever way we may choose to look at it, online dating has revolutionized the way we view relationships and how we execute them.
