“Where did you find her, on the internet?! Ha!” – then.
“She’s so cool, and you met online? Wow” – now.
Going back as little as 10 years and online dating had a taboo element. As if it was reserved for weirdos who could only chat to women if it was from behind a keyboard. Fast-forward to now and one third of marriages began via an online dating website or app.
Before, people would meet potential dates at work or through mutual friends. The more confident ones would meet a few in bars too, but let’s be honest, most of us aren’t very good at that. So stop pretending you are.
Online dating is now a $4bn industry worldwide. It is the second most common way of finding a partner in the heterosexual world, whilst it is the single most popular platform for starting a same-sex relationship.
Not convinced yet?
We see a lot or reservations. Will I embarrass myself? Will it be awkward? Is it expensive? Well to answer that one very quickly, no.
Those that have tried online dating say that the reality of it was the exact opposite to their preconceived ideas. It’s convenient, it’s fun, it’s inexpensive and it brought success to their love lives. Plus it is a brilliant use of your time; you get paired up with people who, at the very least, you’ll have common interests with.
6 reasons that online dating clearly isn’t for losers.
1) It’s easy. You set up a profile, you get paired up, you go on a date if you want to. There’s no game playing. You’ve both put yourself out there and you both have said ‘yeah, they seem alright!’. There isn’t a 100% success rate on dates, it just doesn’t work like that. But your odds have gone from ‘let’s see what happens’ to ‘we’ve got potential’.
2) Cast your net further. If you work in one place and live in one place, you see the same people and you don’t break your routine. You can’t stuff your life into a back-pack and go trekking in Australia to meet new people, you’re not 18 anymore. So online dating means you enter new circles and meet new people that you wouldn’t normally.
3) The cost. i) Dates don’t have to be expensive. But they often are. Dinner, drinks, cab rides, event tickets. You’re going to have to open your wallet. So you want to be spending your money on a date that is going somewhere and on someone who you like. If you’ve been paired up on the grounds of similar interests, and that you both like what you see, you’re less likely to be wasting money in the ‘getting to know you’ stage. i) The actual cost of these websites is a lot less than you might imagine. You are paying very little money to have someone search your local area of people who you could date. Win.
4) Soar like an eagle. If first dates aren’t your strong point, online dating is for you. You’ll have seen their profile before you meet. You’ll have had a bit of back and forth before you meet. You’ll create some conversation ammo for the big night. Or, if you aren’t feeling it, you cancel! Knowing that you’ll never bump into them at work or on the street as you don’t move in the same circles.
5) What you see IS what you get. One of the myths about online dating is that people lie. That they look 33 in their profile pic but in reality they’re pushing 60. They say they’re a kindergarten teacher but in fact they’re a drug dealer.
This does not happen.
6) The stats show that people are MORE honest on the internet then they are in ‘reality’. It seems people find it easier to be themselves digitally and they want to meet the right person; and that means giving correct information. Plus the websites don’t want frauds on their client list. It’s like eBay in that respect. There, dishonest traders get found out with bad ratings and poor feedback. It’s the same thing here.
So online dating has changed. It’s not sad people in a virtual chat room kidding themselves at ‘annahotstuff69’ is in love with them. You used to spend a long time a queue at the bank but then online banking came along so you don’t do that anymore. You probably once booked a vacation by flicking through a brochure and calling a phone number, only to get there and find half the hotel is still a building site. But I’m guessing you now book online and check out all the traveler reviews and pics, right? So drop any inaccurate fears or judgement. Online dating is fun, safe, efficient and cheap – http://online4.love/how-much-does-match-cost/
