When it comes to the impact of online activity on an industry, or a way of life, you’d be hard pressed to find anything that has had quite so much of an impact as the culture of dating.
40% of Americans use online dating regularly with 27% of young adults doing so regularly. The spread of users is now incredibly wide, with the older generations using age-specific dating sites in order to find a partner.
The idea of dating apps as an option for those looking for love, friendship, or just immediate hookups, would have been almost unthinkable just a decade or so ago, but it’s now so common that most of us have, at some point, downloaded an app to our devices.
Size of the Market
Frankly, the chances of you finding a suitable partner randomly or through blind luck are slim to none. This is especially true for those over 30 but is also the case for younger prospective daters.
By dating online you basically expand your pool of possible encounters to near limitless proportions. Even if you live in a big city you’ll still only frequent a small number of locations, bars, clubs and other similar haunts, and you are unlikely to find a perfect partner unless you happen to get very lucky indeed.
Dating online puts you in direct contact with people in the same boat as yourselves, saving you any potential embarrassment associated with approaching individuals who are not interested or available.
Finding Like-Minded Partners
As well as offering a large number of prospective dates, online dating offers perfect options for specific niche markets.
For instance, if you are over the age of 50 then there are dating sites that are ideally suited for your demographic, check it out, which therefore not only gives you options within your target group, also makes sure the dates you find will be more likely to be suitable.
The niches available are wider than you might think. There are those that are separated by age, which works especially for older daters who may have entirely different expectations and wants than younger people.
Additionally, you have niches according to belief systems, such as the many christian dating services. There are even those for those who enjoy a Gluten free lifestyle, Star Trek fans as well as those who might be pilots or just not very tall.
Getting to Know Someone Before You Meet
One key factor when it comes to online dating is the ability to converse, in whichever way you choose, electronically long before you decide to meet face to face.
This can make it much easier to find people who you really have a connection with and also means that when you do meet in person there’s less of all that awkwardness that may ensue from a truly ‘blind date’.
For many, this period of getting to know one another is a key way to also feel safe and secure ahead of a possible in person meeting. Indeed some actually prefer this part of the process as much as the face to face aspect that may or may not follow.
Improving Your Chances of Finding ‘The One’
The additional benefit of an increased dating pool comes from the fact that you can keep coming back to the well. In other words, if one date doesn’t work out well, then there’s always the possibility of another one just around the corner.
This kind of scattergun approach is particularly useful for those who are very picky and specific about what they are looking for from a possible partner. With apps such as Tinder, the search is in many ways as much fun as the dates you might secure, in this way the very act of online dating itself has its very own benefits.
Research has found that as we get older, the number of locations we are likely to meet potential partners reduces dramatically. Clearly we are less likely to mingle in crowded clubs and bars when we reach a certain age and perhaps for those who have retired, but also still want to find love, there is a lack of a workplace (which is where a surprising number of people find those they are looking for).
The way that the internet has made the world a smaller place is in many ways perfect for online dating. You are not only opening yourself up to a wider audience but you can narrow that wide search according to relevant criteria and then all of a sudden the expression ‘plenty of fish in the sea’ becomes all the more apt. Only in this analogy you get to pick which parts of the ocean you swim in.
Online Dating Is Now Safer and More Secure Than Ever
Now that online dating has become an industry of its own, and a substantial one worth $2.3bn per year, in the US alone, it’s a service that is now safer and more secure than ever.
Your details are protected and, with most apps, you can choose to block those who you don’t wish to interact with. Your phone number and email information is not given out, unless you choose to do so. This leaves you with the peace of mind to make the most of the dating apps benefits without concerns over your information being handed out to random strangers.
The Time is Right to Try Online Dating
If you haven’t tried out online dating, and are looking for a partner, then now is the time to give it a go. By doing so you take a lot of the downsides of dating out of the equation, leaving the way clear to finding someone who may be the perfect fit for you.
With so many apps out there you’d do well to do the relevant research before signing-up with one that works for you. Check online to find a dating app, such as bestdaters.com, that is reputable and ideal for your circumstances and then go for it!
