3 ms·

10 years later, and I know quite a few people who met through online dating websites and apps, some even getting married. So maybe the average is bleak, but if

10 years later, and I know quite a few people who met through online dating websites and apps, some even getting married. So maybe the average is bleak, but if it has a good P90 or P95 success rate, it might still be worth the try.

bawolff 6y ago
I guess the question is, would those people have otherwise gotten married to somebody (is it a coincidence they met through online dating, or was it the cause of finding someone)
- decafninja 6y ago
  I think this is important too. There's two kinds of people in the online dating realm. The people who could have gotten dates/married without online dating, but just happen to have used the medium to expand their circle. And the people who would have had difficulty offline, and that difficulty may or may not extend to the online realm too. Everyone I know who've found love online seem to be in the first category. Those that find dating difficult offline don't seem to have significantly better luck online either.
  - TT3351 6y ago
    I find that last statement a little confusing; I have horrendous luck offline and have significantly better luck online. I have never been able to "ask someone out" conventionally in person without making a fool of myself. It's a lot easier for me to take lots of rejection (the price everyone pays for being single and looking) when I'm sitting on the toilet on my phone in the morning than when I'm face to face with the person I'm interested in. Much faster turnover between individual rejections as well. All of the most positive relationships in my life, not just in romance or sex, have been off online dating/hookup sites/apps. Edit: and I never once paid for them
  - didibus 6y ago
    Some of my friends definitely had difficulty dating offline. Nice and shy, might not know what to say in a first date, can seem a bit boring at first, and also just doesn't have a big social circle to meet other people. I feel online dating gave them a chance to meet some other people, pre-meet prior to first date, and than go on a first date, which they'd otherwise wouldn't have been able too. Either from never meeting the person in the first place, never asking to go out on a date, or messing up that date. That's all my personal analysis though, like I have no data here appart from a few people I know and my interpretation.
- didibus 6y ago
  > is it a coincidence they met through online dating, or was it the cause of finding someone Do you mean like... Given enough time they'd have married someone offline as well? I think some of them that are more socially active offline probably, but some I could see easily going a long time without. There's a lot of people who have really small social circles without any new face coming into it ever. And they don't have the motivation or personality to go and seek it out in real life, but do if it's behind a screen at home in their pijamas. While back there was a stigma a bit around online dating too, which I think has gone away now.

bawolff 6y ago

I guess the question is, would those people have otherwise gotten married to somebody (is it a coincidence they met through online dating, or was it the cause of finding someone)

decafninja 6y ago
I think this is important too. There's two kinds of people in the online dating realm. The people who could have gotten dates/married without online dating, but just happen to have used the medium to expand their circle. And the people who would have had difficulty offline, and that difficulty may or may not extend to the online realm too. Everyone I know who've found love online seem to be in the first category. Those that find dating difficult offline don't seem to have significantly better luck online either.
- TT3351 6y ago
  I find that last statement a little confusing; I have horrendous luck offline and have significantly better luck online. I have never been able to "ask someone out" conventionally in person without making a fool of myself. It's a lot easier for me to take lots of rejection (the price everyone pays for being single and looking) when I'm sitting on the toilet on my phone in the morning than when I'm face to face with the person I'm interested in. Much faster turnover between individual rejections as well. All of the most positive relationships in my life, not just in romance or sex, have been off online dating/hookup sites/apps. Edit: and I never once paid for them
- didibus 6y ago
  Some of my friends definitely had difficulty dating offline. Nice and shy, might not know what to say in a first date, can seem a bit boring at first, and also just doesn't have a big social circle to meet other people. I feel online dating gave them a chance to meet some other people, pre-meet prior to first date, and than go on a first date, which they'd otherwise wouldn't have been able too. Either from never meeting the person in the first place, never asking to go out on a date, or messing up that date. That's all my personal analysis though, like I have no data here appart from a few people I know and my interpretation.
didibus 6y ago
> is it a coincidence they met through online dating, or was it the cause of finding someone Do you mean like... Given enough time they'd have married someone offline as well? I think some of them that are more socially active offline probably, but some I could see easily going a long time without. There's a lot of people who have really small social circles without any new face coming into it ever. And they don't have the motivation or personality to go and seek it out in real life, but do if it's behind a screen at home in their pijamas. While back there was a stigma a bit around online dating too, which I think has gone away now.