Design by Viktor Hertz
With St. Valentine’s Day fast approaching, whether you are celebrating it, resenting it, or simply ignoring it, I thought it would be appropriate to research on the phenomenon of online dating.
A recent study on online dating lead by Dr. Eli Finkel from Northwestern University examines studies carried out by groups of psychologists as early as 1995, when the infamous Match.com opened for business. Online dating may sound silly to you (and me), but it is a multi-billion-dollar industry that provides the platform for spending even more money on days like Valentine’s day.
Photo from Frederick Basket
For guys out there, it may come to no surprise that according to the Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada, Men spend $158 on gifts on this day alone.
But before you move to spending money on gifts, let’s focus on the portal to happily ever after.
Data cited from Dr. Finkel’s paper suggests that 78% of North Americans have access to the internet in 2011. Thus, internet has now become the optimal platform for a third party intervention for match-making.
The resources for offline dating transfers directly to online dating.
- Access: diverging from the traditional offline matchmaking, we now rely on the profiles generated by the online dating site. Another study by Dr. Catalina Toma and Dr. Jeffrey Hancock published earlier this month presents scientific evidence on how writing styles are directly correlated with trustworthiness for online dating profiles. This attributes the falsehood already present in the pool of potential partners. Not only might they have pro Photoshop skills, they might also write beautifully to further deceive you!
- Communication: this refers to the various computer-mediated communication such as Skype or MSN to interact with potential partners before meeting face-to-face.
- Matching: this is accomplished by the site’s use of mathematical algorithms to select the potential “soul mates” for their users. However, Dr. Finkel states that there is no scientific proof that the outcomes of these algorithms will provide a route to lasting relationships.
While online dating with its downfalls and falsehoods may still prove to be a supermarket of love, there is a hefty price for quality service. Different sites may claim to provide unique portals to finding a potential partner, but there will be no guarantees (just like in offline dating, of course, minus the fees).
But if you, or your friends, really do not want to celebrate Single Awareness (or Appreciation) Day tomorrow, here is a video on tips to online dating to get started! Happy fishing!
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To see where all your money went on Valentine’s Day, click here.
The trend on average Valentine’s Day spending per consumer, by year, here.
Read the full article on The Economist, here.
Read the full paper on the review of online dating studies (as hyper-linked above), here.
Read the full paper on how online profiles are a lie, here.
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