Both of the infographics above stand out to me for many reasons. Online dating has become increasingly popular and common. Though many people have various social media accounts and often times meet their next mate on them, some people still turn to dating websites or apps to do so. The findings above are interesting to me yet not very surprising.
To start, the first infographic about users lying to appear more desirable stuck out to me. In particular, the first statistic by Pew Research Center states 71% of people believe that it is common for people to lie about themselves to appear more desirable does not surprise me at all. In fact, people seem to do this on every other social media platform, not just dating websites. I have never been a member on a dating platform so I can not speak from experience. However, I would imagine that people would lie about themselves just as much if not even more to appear more desirable on a dating platform as opposed to a Facebook account. I asked my friend who is a member on multiple dating websites and she said, “I have encountered many people making themselves look a lot better on their profiles than they do in real life.” I think that people will change the way they look in photos to make themselves look better rather than changing any internal factors. In fact, there is a show called “Catfish” on MTV that explores the idea of this in a more extreme sense. On this show, people actually pretend to be a completely different person just to gain the attention of others. If you click here you can see how to catch a potential catfish. There is a popular Youtuber named Olivia Cara. She has a video posted on her channel about the time she was catfished on on a dating app called Tinder. Click here to watch her video. It is possible that people fall for these lies because of the “halo effect.” When we perceive someone as being good before we even meet them, we will continue to believe so until further notice. so even though lying on social media is not a good thing in the long run, it may help you shoot your shot to say the least.
On the next infographic, Pew Research Center states that 77% of people reported going on a date with someone they met on a dating site. Though I have never been a member of a dating website, I have met people on social media that were complete strangers and hung out with them just days after starting talking. In fact, that is how I met my current boyfriend. My boyfriend said, “I was not even looking for a particular person to date but things progressed once I found Abby on social media and once we started actually hanging out.” Dating platforms make finding and meeting people so much easier, if you are looking for a mate you would be foolish not to explore all of your options. A less traditional dating app, named Tinder, seems to be very big on hookup culture. Vanity Fair wrote an article about the hookup nature of Tinder. It seems that many people use Tinder just to find someone to hook up with for the night and then never talk to each other again. This is not a great site for someone to use if they are looking for a real mate, but it is still not impossible. My brother told me this “I found my current girlfriend, Shelby, on Tinder and I now live happily with her and we have our own dog and cat which makes it even better!” In order to find someone serious, the last thing you should do is lie!!!
The third and final infographic breaks down the demographics of those who do use dating sites. Pew Research Center states that about 30% of adults use or have used these sites which does not surprise me. I am also not surprised that majority of the people who use them are between the ages of 18 and 29. However, there are actually more older people using these sites than I expected. I guess I am just under the impression that people only use these sites to hookup since that is what most people my age do. I also find it quite interesting that 55% of those who identify as LBG use these sites. That seems like a large proportion. However, it does make it easier for them to find people their type on platforms like this, which is a good thing. The Pew Research center states that 84% of people who try online dating are looking for true commitment, which would come as a shock to most millennials. I also did some research and realized how many different dating sites there actually are. There are dating sites for people of different races, sexual orientations, religions, socioeconomic statuses, and much more! There are over 8,000 different dating sites so there is definitely many to choose from.
References:
https://www.datingadvice.com/online-dating/who-uses-online-dating
https://theconversation.com/have-you-caught-a-catfish-online-dating-can-be-deceptive-109702
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/08/tinder-hook-up-culture-end-of-dating
Bloomsburg Infographics 