Online dating is a way for people to introduce themselves to one another to try and develop a relationship. People who are using online dating usually are intending to look for someone to connect with and form some sort of a relationship, usually a romantic one. The first step of online dating is deciding which app or website you think will work best for you. There are different dating apps for certain people to cater to their personal interests. For example, there’s eHarmony, Farmers Only, Bumble, OKCupid, Tinder, and a plethora of others to choose from. The next step in the process is to create a profile. This is where people write a little information about yourself to tell other people what their interests and hobbies are. The bio is a short little description that sums up the individual, but also tells that the people reading the bio if they may be a match. Avoiding cliché interests such as taking long walks on the beach and adding genuine interest usually increase matches. Next, you evaluate other people’s profiles on the app. Once you match with someone, you can view their profiles to see if they are worth pursuing. If you think that you and one of the people you matched with might take the relationship somewhere and are infatuated by them, then you can start the online chatting process. This gives you the chance to really get to know someone. If the two people hit it off, then they can set up a date to meet up and possibly start taking the relationship further. Research has shown that, “66% of online daters have gone on a date with someone they met through a dating site or app” (Smith and Duggan). At this point in the world, humans are starting to rely more on their phones to meet new people to form relationships, rather than going out and meeting people.
The games of dating have changed over the years since online dating started becoming more of a trend than it used to be. Before the internet, the average person would introduce themselves to new people when they were out of their house, whether they were going grocery shopping, to the bar, or a restaurant or any other outing. If they were out at a party or dance, the dances performed usually required some sort of physical contact such as holding each other. This would allow them to connect with new people and possibly form a relationship. While they were out, if they saw someone they were attracted to, they would go up to them and formally introduce themselves. Both men and women would do this because that was the normal thing to do. It was also common for people to meet through mutual friends. A man or woman would be fixed up on a blind date by a mutual friend. Occasionally, two people would meet in the bar, but that would sometimes be considered dangerous to some people especially woman, just like it is considered today. According to Melissa Fleur Afshar, “In early 1995, an online dating service, called match.com went live, since then online dating has become a social phenomenon that has intercepted our smartphones, our daily routines, and our relationships, forging a 2.5-billion-dollar industry from our consistent usage” (“The Psychological Effect”). Now people rely on their phones and technology to meet people through different social media apps or websites. Around one in ten Americans have used an online dating site or mobile dating app (Smith and Duggan). For those who haven’t participated in any form of online dating, they most likely know someone who has. The attitude toward online dating is gradually becoming more positive as it becomes more mainstream.
Works Cited
Afshar, Melissa Fleur. “The Psychological Effects of Online Dating.” Tmrw, 25 Feb. 2019, www.tmrwmagazine.com/features/culture/the-psychological-effects-of-online-dating.
“The Beautiful Truth About Online Dating | Arum Kang & Dawoon Kang | TEDxUCDavisSF.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 July 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRWPqwyukGY&t=467s.
Brogaard, Berit. “5 Unhealthy Relationship Patterns.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 22 Mar. 2017, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mysteries-love/201703/5-unhealthy-relationship-patterns.
Danko, Meredith. “11 Results from Studies About Online Dating.” Mental Floss, 17 Oct. 2014, www.mentalfloss.com/article/59509/11-results-studies-about-online-dating.
Eichenberg, Christiane, et al. “From Online Dating to Online Divorce: An Overview of Couple and Family Relationships Shaped Through Digital Media.” Contemporary Family Therapy, vol. 39, no. 4, 2017, pp. 249–260. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10591-017-9434-x.
“Has Online Dating Changed the Nature of Human Relationships?” This., 13 Feb. 2018, this.deakin.edu.au/self-improvement/has-online-dating-changed-the-nature-of-human-relationships.
Khazan, Olga. “A Psychologist's Guide to Online Dating.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 8 Dec. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/12/a-psychologists-guide-to-online-dating/282225/.
Lusinski, Natalia. “Here's How Many Millennials Have Been Ghosted.” Bustle, 24 Mar. 2016, www.bustle.com/articles/149528-heres-how-many-millennials-have-been-ghosted-by-someone-they-were-dating.
McRae, Mike. “This Is How Online Dating Has Changed the Very Fabric of Society.” ScienceAlert, 11 Oct. 2017, www.sciencealert.com/this-is-how-online-dating-has-changed-the-very-fabric-of-society.
Neuman, Fredric. “Dating: Then and Now.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 11 Jan. 2013, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fighting-fear/201301/dating-then-and-now.
Roman, Laura, et al. “What Makes Us Click: How Online Dating Shapes Our Relationships.” NPR, NPR, 2 Jan. 2018, 5:01 AM ET, www.npr.org/2018/01/02/572259115/what-makes-us-click-how-online-dating-shapes-our-relationships.
Seaver, Maggie. “It's Official: Online Dating Has Had a Positive Impact on Modern Marriage.” Theknot.com, The Knot, 12 Apr. 2019, www.theknot.com/content/online-dating-and-marriage-study.
Shatto, Rachel. “The Surprising Ways Dating Apps Can Affect Your Mental Health, According to Experts.” Elite Daily, 20 Jan. 2018, www.elitedaily.com/p/how-dating-apps-can-affect-your-mental-health-according-to-experts-7964252.
Smith, Aaron, and Maeve Duggan. “Online Dating & Relationships.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 24 May 2018, www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/10/21/online-dating-relationships/.
Vandersteen, Julius. “Negatives of Online Dating.” It Still Works, 10 Jan. 2019, itstillworks.com/negatives-online-dating-2834.html.
Villarreal, Alexandra. “The Number of Cheaters Using Dating Apps and Sites Right Now Is Shocking.” Ladders, 14 Feb. 2019, www.theladders.com/career-advice/the-number-of-cheaters-using-dating-apps-and-websites-right-now-is-shocking.
White, Tiffany. “Catfish Murders: True Stories of Killers Who Find Victims Online.” In Touch Weekly, 13 June 2018, www.intouchweekly.com/posts/catfish-murders-158410/.