How has the internet changed the dating industry?

Now more than ever, connecting with people and dating online is the norm, with the assistance of a plethora of sites and apps include Tinder, Grindr, Bumble, eHarmony, the list goes on.

Online sources and dating websites such as Mature Dating, say around 15 million single people in the UK have registered for online dating.

1 in 5 people in the UK have relationships that have started online, 52.4% of which are men, and 47.6% are female.

Apart from the obvious change of setting from the local bustling bar or club to the comfort and familiar smartphone or laptop, how has the internet changed the dating scene?

Access

Before online dating, people were limited to their circle friends, people known by their families or work colleagues. This introduced the sticky possibility of awkward nights out and work Christmas parties if the relationship went sour. Internet dating is definitely the sweet to counter that sour. People can decide how far from their location they want to reach out to people and connect with. Out goes the waiting for the weekend, the club nights or even the nights full stop.

According to two of the founders of Tinder, Justin Mateen and Sean Rad, the inspiration for the app came from their own experiences and dissatisfaction with organic dating opportunities.

Long-distance relationships seem less ill-fated, talking to a Marmite-lover seems less hopeless.

Those meeting from different racial backgrounds also benefit. According to economists Josue Ortega from the University of Essex and Philipp Hergovich from the University of Vienna, their model forecasts a positive correlation between racial integration and the emergence of online dating.

Dating in the LGBT community has also been helped by the internet, especially since people may not be as open about their sexuality in daily life, enclosed social circles, or local communities.

But having more options of prospective partners can mean we start to become picky. In the swiping craze of online dating, the notion of greener grass can start to shadow the dating experience. Suddenly the dating industry’s reliance on technology may lead to more impatient users rather than happy couples.

According to Maturity Dating, 24% of online daters said that the main reason for using dating apps and websites was because they could be selective.

Views of relationships

Online dating has redacted the sting of rejection when it comes to relationship hunting. Because of the constant merry-go-round for potential partners, that failure with one person is quickly replaced with a brand-new partner and opportunity.

But this never-ending conveyor belt of dating options does not necessarily guarantee authenticity. There is a tendency from internet users to portray a version of themselves not only on platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook that are not primarily known for dating, as well as apps such as Bumble, Tinder or Grindr. That way, the people that you are talking to may never know about the parts of yourself that you think are unattractive, not likeable or photogenic.

The insincerity of profiles and personas can also lead to a Pandora's Box of issues that online daters regularly confront such as catfishing or unwanted behaviour and messages. While the discussions of connectivity brought by the internet and online services are true, it is also nuanced. The internet allows certain barriers to be placed, therefore you can select what people know about you. Some are more forthcoming than others, placing their likes and biographies on the first pages of their profiles. While others are more selective, portraying themselves as others or saying and sending things that they usually wouldn’t, because the consequences do not have the same gravity as they would in person.

Although some surveys and investigations may show that online, people are more about the substance than the solution, it is hard to consider that these visual-heavy websites and apps are not dependant on the superficial.

The very nature of the term ‘relationship’ has also changed for those wanting to date online. Commitment and exclusivity in relationships tend to be more fluid and more relaxed. Endless options of partners might give some the courage to not give up searching for their partners, but it might give others the chance to discard people easily and quickly.

Blame it on the science

Of course, the integration of the internet into the dating industry may have less to do with the algorithms of our dating histories and preferences but more to do with our brains. Some studies have shown that a random notification can cause of a spike of dopamine in the brain, which is our feel-good hormone. So when dating apps and websites give notifications, it’s a match made in heaven for the chemicals in our heads.

Not only that, but we also like looking at attractive people. According to a study done in the Netherlands by Vasily Klucharev from the F.C. Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging found that activity in the part of the brain region involved in the processing of rewards, is most active when looking at attractive faces.

Nothing has changed?

Some arguments suggest that apart from the environment, the internet hasn’t changed much when it comes to the dating industry. It has simply transferred to a format that we regularly use in our day-to-day activities. In the past ten years, UK internet access for 18-64 year-olds has more than doubled.

There have always been bad dates, people pretending to be someone that they are not and other activities that organically release dopamine in real life. But the need and want for partners and companions naturally like the social creatures that we, whether on a serious basis or otherwise, has not really changed.

Internet dating has definitely changed the way we find our dating opportunities and search for partners, in a way that seems to be constantly increasing. eHarmony has made predictions into as late as 2040, suggesting that 70% of our relationships will have come about because of online services or online dating platforms.