Dating has definitely come a long way since then. When you think about how dating was in our parent’s early years and you compare it to yours now, it’s just too different. It’s like comparing a pineapple to rock and looking for similarities. Technology has played a major role in that, and with the birth of the internet, online dating was its offspring.
At its early age, online dating has such a stigma to it that whenever someone is using online dating sites, they’re automatically perceived as desperate or aren’t capable enough of meeting people in real life.
Even if its real purpose was to help meet people in a more convenient manner, it was defined as the opposite.
But now, time’s changed and so did people’s perception.
Whenever someone’s met somebody online, they’re pressed with questions on what app they were using and so on.
Though there might still be a little bit of judgment from some people, we can now sleep on the fact that they’re now more comfortable and accepted in the concept of meeting people online.
The rise of online dating also gave rise to the number of interracial couples.
If you look at it in a way, the internet gave access to people to connect with others practically anywhere on Earth where the internet can reach.
Shortly after the rise of match.com in 1995, the number of interracial couples started to increase in America along with the rise of scam incidents (not correlated), first date disasters, and many more.
39% of American adults in 2015 thought that this is generally good for their society.
Let’s dig deeper into the evolution of online dating, and its rocky journey to people’s acceptance.
1. The birth of online dating sites
If you look at it from a simplistic point of view, the way to do with online dating is to sign up, work on your profile, and meet the love of your life. But these expectations are not met most of the time.
Why?
Come on, this is love we’re talking about.
Everything about love is complicated that even people with the most experience still can’t see it coming.
It would either slowly welcome you with open arms or hit you in the face with a brick.
So what’s online dating got to do with any of this?
Well, online dating obviously contributes an effortless way to meet singles either near you or anyplace in the world.
So that’s one thing less to worry about.
Throughout the years, hundreds of dating sites were released into the world.
Some are the so-called general dating sites and some are niche-focused.
One of the pioneers of online dating is the ever famous match.com.
The company, however, stands up to this day and still serves as an open portal to singles looking for ideal matches.
But no matter which dating site you pick, there’s this one thing that most of these platforms share, and that is the profile.
Once you have an account, you’ll surely have one of those so-called dating profiles whether you like it or not.
It’s there, and it’s there to stay at everybody’s disposal. It will serve as your identity, the place to promote yourself, and where others will most likely judge you.
From those profiles developed the phenomenon called relationshopping.
This is where an individual leads to scrolling an endless line of dating profiles as if skimming for a brand new TV to buy online.
Solely for this, one can’t completely show how delightful or smart they are, since most users would more likely contact the ones who’ll catch their eyes or pique their attention.
Those could only be known through actual interaction, not through casual browsing.
2. Now we go to dating apps
In comparison to how online dating was done in its earlier days, it’s now handy and can be accessed wherever you are only with the use of a smartphone.
It’s definitely come a long way since then and has no plans on stopping anytime soon.
One of the significant developments in online dating was when the dating giant Tinder started the swipe right or left trend where you would see potential matches near your area, and you swipe right if you like them or swipe left if you don’t.
Dating apps like these make users focus more on how one looks rather than compatibility and chemistry which made it an easy-access hookup app for some.
But there is some exemption with some people who actually found love on the app.
Yes, love can indeed be found on dating sites and apps.
When looking for ideal matches, users usually have preferences and do stick with online dating to meet those match expectations.
Statistics show that 38% of women prefer nice guys and 45% of men prefer career-oriented women, while 30% of online daters say that personality is an essential first date factor.
Through these statistics alone, one can’t deny how particular some people could be (which is not a bad thing since you’re practically looking for someone to spend the rest of your life with).
It’s just a matter of being open-minded to meeting new people and knowing what you really want for a partner.
Bottomline
To recap, the differences are so staggering if we compare how online dating was before to how it is now.
From simply logging into online dating sites right from a personal computer to getting dates anytime and anywhere right from a smartphone.
From being a widely known stigma to being socially accepted.
From just being a dating site for meeting singles and making friends with anyone to easy hookups (though not all).
What’s important to remember is that making relationships work is still pretty hard.
You might have met in a convenient place, but committing and staying in love is hard.
But that depends on both your expectations of the relationship.
