Online, mobile dating in US triples in 5 years: Pew survey
21 Oct 2013
Online dating and its newer relative, mobile dating apps, are an increasingly popular option to meet a romantic partner, according to a Pew Research Center report, which says the number of Americans using internet dating services has tripled over the last five years.
The results of a detailed new survey by Pew Internet Project released on Sunday show that 11 per cent of American adults have used online or mobile dating. Among those who have, 66 per cent have gone on a date with someone they met through a dating site or app, and 23 per cent met their spouse or significant other that way.
The report is based on a telephone survey of 2,252 adults aged 18 and older, completed in May. It offers a first glimpse at mobile dating apps, finding that 3 per cent of all adults say they've used such an app on their cellphone.
Pew's analysis is the latest in a series of efforts designed to get a better handle on how much technology has changed the way partners pair up.
Unlike data released this summer based on a survey commissioned by a dating website, Pew, a non-partisan organisation, is an independent body.
"We're not just looking at users of a particular site or a convenience sample," says the report's lead author, Aaron Smith. "We have the ability to look at a nationally representative portion of the population to show not only what's happening now but how those behaviours have changed over a period of time."
According to the survey, 42 per cent of Americans know someone who has used online dating, up from 31 per cent in a 2005 report from Pew.
Additionally, 29 per cent of Americans know someone who met a spouse or other long-term partner through online dating, up from 15 per cent.
Pew's survey includes a subset of 1,895 internet users. Among those, 32 per cent agree that "online dating keeps people from settling down because they always have options for people to date." It's a first-time question for Pew and a subject that others who study online dating say is up for debate.
Of the online daters surveyed, 40 per cent have used a site or app for people with shared interests or backgrounds, and one-third (33 per cent) have paid a dating site or app. Although gatherings organised by an online dating site are increasing, just 4 per cent of online daters have attended such an event, Pew says.
The downsides are predictiable. According to the survey, 54 per cent "felt someone else seriously misrepresented themselves in their profile", and 28 per cent "have been contacted by someone through an online dating site or app in a way that made them feel harassed or uncomfortable".
A tidbit Smith found interesting is that 38 per cent of online daters have come across a profile or been matched with someone they already knew.
