According to a Pew Research Center report conducted Oct. 16 to 28, 2019, three-in-ten U.S. adults have used online dating sites or applications—including 11% who have done so in the past year. Some of these Americans can testify that these platforms allow meaningful, lifelong connections. 12% of Americans say that they have married or been in a committed relationship with someone they have met through online dating. I have always been interested in this subject since I watch shows such as Catfish. Catfish is a show that brings people together that has never met before but have been dating online. This show highlights the positive and negative affects to online dating.
I found a lot of things interesting in this study. Since I have watched Catfish, I would never think to date someone online or think that’s an option but I’ve seen people that do. As I’ve watched Catfish over the years, it has shown the dark sides of online dating. It’s very easy to hide your identity online. You can make up whoever you would like to be online including your pictures. Some people have made up who they are to get back at people, to steal money, or other negative things. There are some people in the world that will do these awful things to people just to hurt them or get back at them. Catfish has shown more negative episodes rather than positive on the show.
I have asked my family members about there reaction to some of the numbers about how many Americans actually date people or get into a committed relationship after meeting them online. “I was very surprised to see how many people between the ages of 18-29 use dating apps even though they use technology most frequently. I would think older ages would be using them to find a relationship”- Beth D.
I see a lot of commercials and ads online for dating websites that seem to grab older ages such as thirty and above. Many of the people you see on these online dating sites are adult men. I was also interested to see how the online dating websites were ranked. Zoosk came up as number one on consumer-rankings.com. The recommended age for the website is 18-50+. EliteSingles comes in at number two in the rankings. EliteSingles age recommendation is 33-50+. Number three, SilverSingles, represents and recommends the single people in their 50’s and older. Eharmony is ranked number four on this list even though it is a legacy brand. Eharmony age recommendation is 25-50+. Lastly, OurTime comes in fifth with the recommended age of 50+ (Consumer-rankings.com). I found this very interesting to focus on since Beth D. said she thought more older adults used social dating apps than 18-20. Many dating websites are geared towards older adults. I found this information interesting and easy to read about on other search engines.
From my point of view, older adults should be aware that people could lie about who they are easily over the Internet. Anyone can decide what they want the world to see on their personal web pages or dating applications. I feel like older adults should be wiser and not think to find love over the Internet. I also think older adults are more old fashion and would want to find love in person and not do it over the Internet.
Another point of interest is on how many LGB over straight people use social dating apps and websites. “It does not surprise me that many LGB use dating applications since it would be a lot easier to find people. I also think its a lot less pressure to find people like you on dating apps so people know exactly what you are looking for”- Sam D. 55% of LGB have ever used a dating sit or app and 21% of them have married or been in a committed relationship with someone they met on a dating site or app. 28% of straight people have ever used a dating site or app. 11% of them have been married or been in a committed relationship with someone they met on a dating site or app.
The research I found in PEW Research Center has interested me to follow up on this information after this project. I am interested in the dark sides of online dating as well as the positives. Finding a relationship depends on trust and communication no matter what channel you are communicating from. Previous Pew Research Center studies about online dating indicate that they share of one-in-five online daters is currently using a dating site or app. This research should go further in what applications and what websites have had successful and committed relationships come out of them. Sharing those sites could make more people go to those sites with successful results.
