WASHINGTON – More than one in 10 Americans have used an online dating site or mobile dating app, and 66 percent of those people subsequently dated someone they met through the site or app. As a result, 23 percent found their spouse or long-term partner.
The statistics are among a veritable sea of information revealed in a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Report authors Aaron Smith and Maeve Duggan ultimately concluded that although most users of online dating sites have experienced at least one negative interaction, public attitudes about the practice — and the industry — have become much more positive in recent years. Trends indicate the online dating industry has nowhere to go but up, and that could be good news for dating-site operators and affiliates.
The study that gave rise to the report was the first of its kind since 2005, when fewer than three percent of American adults admitted having used an online dating service. Conducted April 17 through May 19, 2013, the study surveyed American adults aged 18 older in English and Spanish.
Taken together, 11 percent of all American adults are what the report’s authors term “online daters,” meaning they have used a dating site. The percentage increases when only “single and looking” adults are considered: 38 percent of Americans who describe themselves in those terms have used a dating website. Seven percent of cell phone users have used an online dating app. Across both categories, the practice is especially common among the college-educated and those in their mid-20s through mid-40s, according to the report. Only slightly more men (13 percent) than women (nine percent) admit to visiting online dating sites.
More significant, perhaps, is the shift in attitudes about online dating among the general population. According to the survey, almost half (42 percent) of respondents indicated they know someone who has used an online dating site or app, and 29 percent said they know someone who has been in a long-term relationship with or married someone they met through online dating. More than half (56 percent) of those surveyed indicated they believe online dating is a good way to meet people, and 51 percent said “online dating allows people to find a better match” than they might encounter otherwise.
Only 23 percent of respondents said they think online daters are “desperate.”
Not all of the responses were positive, however. More than half of those who have used an online dating service have encountered someone who “seriously misrepresented” himself or herself in their profile. Another 28 percent said they have been contacted through a dating website or app in a way that made them feel harassed or uncomfortable.
The complete report, “Online Dating & Relationships,” released Oct. 21, is available here [PDF].
