Digital technologies have affected many aspects of our lives, including how people seek out and establish romantic relationships. Today as much as 15% of Americans report they have used online dating sites or mobile dating apps. (source: FINANCIAL online magazine).
Interest toward online dating sites grow more positive.
Online dating has lost much of its stigma, and a majority of Americans now say online dating is a good way to meet people.
A decade ago most Americans had little exposure to online dating or to the people who used it, but today, nearly half of the public knows someone who uses online dating or who has met a spouse or partner on the dating site.
Online dating popularity has increased among adults under age 25 as well as those in their late 50s and early 60s.
The number of 18- to 24-year-old users of online dating sites roughly tripled from 10% in 2013 to 27% today. Online dating use among 55- to 64-year-olds has also risen substantially since the last Pew Research Center survey on the topic. Today, 12% of 55- to 64-year-olds report ever using an online dating site or mobile dating app versus only 6% in 2013.
One factor behind the substantial growth among younger adults is their use of mobile dating apps. About one-in-five 18- to 24-year olds (22%) now report using mobile dating apps; in 2013, only 5% reported doing so.
One-third of people who have used online dating have never actually gone on a date with someone they met online.
According to the study, the number of people who have gone on a date with someone they met through a dating site is 66%. That is a substantial increase from the 43% of online daters who had actually progressed to the date stage when the question was first asked in 2005.
One-in-five online daters have asked someone else to help them with their profile.
The study showed that 22% of online daters have asked someone to help them create or review their profile. Women are especially likely to enlist a friend in helping them craft the perfect profile—30% of female online daters have done this, compared with 16% of men.
55% of Americans who are in a marriage or committed relationship say they met their significant other online.