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By no means a new concept -

Online dating began in the 1960s with Operation Match at Harvard University. Questionnaires were physically filled out and entered into a computer. In the 1980s, video dating services were popular, and before that there were "singles ads" in newspapers.

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Revenue is soaring -

In 2020, collective revenue from online dating apps was US$3.08 billion.

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Holding the industry up -

Tinder, Match.com, and OkCupid are all owned by the same umbrella company, Match Group Inc.

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A lonely year -

Revenue of online dating apps increased by over 22% in 2020.

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Average time spent -

The average Tinder user spends about 90 minutes on the app per day.

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1/3 -

One in three adults in the US claimed to have used a dating app in the past.

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The real thing -

Twelve percent of users have ended up being married to or committed to someone they met through a dating app.

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The most popular way that spouses meet -

Between 2002 and 2012, married people reported meeting each other as follows: online dating (34.95%), work (14.09%), friends (12.4%), and school (7.14%).

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Sweet little lies -

While women tend to lie about age, 40% of men admitted to lying about their careers on online dating platforms.

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Demographics -

The age breakdown of people who said they have used a dating site or app is as follows: 48% amongst 18-29-year-olds; 38% amongst 30-49-year-olds; and 19% amongst 50-64-year-olds.

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Cards on the table -

Members of the LGBTQ community are about twice (55% vs. 28%) more likely to say that they’ve used these kinds of apps as cisgender heterosexuals.

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Gender plays no role -

There are only modest differences in people of different genders revealing that they use these apps.

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Men aren't picky -

Women generally (91%) only swipe right on Tinder for people that they find attractive, whereas 35% of men report casually liking most Tinder profiles.

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A positive experience overall -

While most demographics find dating sites a positive experience (57%), there is the exception of college-educated people. Sixty-three percent of those who went to college reported these kinds of platforms as a positive experience overall.

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It does what it says on the tin -

About 60% of users said they found it easy to find someone they are attracted to and who shares their interests using dating apps.

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Women are less easily impressed -

Women find it harder than men to find someone they consider physically attractive on these sites (24% vs. 36%).

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Just in case, copy and paste -

On OkCupid, one report showed that copying and pasting a standardized message and sending it to matches is 75% as efficient in getting replies as writing messages to each person individually.

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When you're smiling... -

Women are more successful if they smile in their profile photo, and men are more successful if they don’t, according to OkCupid’s research.

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Men wait in vain -

In one study, the amount of American men who felt that they hadn’t gotten enough messages through these platforms was much higher than women (57% vs. 24%).

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Women receive too many messages -

On the other hand, women were five times more likely to feel like they had received too many messages (30% vs. 6%).

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White lies -

The vast majority of people think that people lie to make themselves more attractive on their dating profiles (71%). Twenty-five percent of people believe that it’s somewhat expected.

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Abuse -

Thirty-five percent of users reported that they received unwanted sexually explicit language or images through dating apps. 

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Virtually the same demographic of victims -

Of women between the ages of 18 and 34, 57% reported that they had received a sexually explicit message or image that they didn’t ask for.

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Threats -

In the same survey of American users, 19% of young women reported that someone had threatened to physically harm them on dating platforms, which is about twice as much as men.

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LGBTQ community targeted -

Fifty-six percent of LGBTQ users reported having received a sexually explicit message or image that they didn’t ask for–24% more than cisgender heterosexual users.

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Half safe -

A whopping 46% of American users felt that these kinds of platforms are a somewhat unsafe or very unsafe way of meeting people.

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Dangerous oversharing -

In one poll’s results, one in 10 users had shared their full home address publicly on their profile, had shared details about their work, or had shared personal information about their family.

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Nudes -

In the same poll, 14% of respondents said they provided their matches with private or unclothed photos of themselves.

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Who feels safe? -

People who are college-educated are more likely to feel like it’s safe when compared to people who received a high school education or less.

Sources: (Business of Apps)(Kaspersky)(Factinate)(Pew Research Center)

See also: How to find love online

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