Did you know that 43% of people Google their first date before they meet them? Probably not — but its just one indication of the changes in the way the search for love and romance has shifted from the pubs and clubs of our towns and cities and into the digital arena.
The rise of the online dating industry has been steady, with over 15million singles now registered for online dating within the UK, with numbers steadily rising. Ten years ago seen as the realm of the desperate, today it is mainstream enough that between 15 —and 20% of active single ‘daters’ use internet dating or attend local speed dating events regularly, and 17% of recent marriages in the UK were between couples who met in some capacity online. A US survey showed online dating as the second most common way of beginning a new relationship, behind a meeting through mutual friends, and the trend seems to be growing each year.
Observers have pointed to the change in modern lifestyles as being behind the surge in online dating’s popularity, and it’s true that our current fast-moving day to day existence leaves little time for older methods of finding Mr or Mrs Right. But the reality is that the online dating model offers a more controlled environment to find a partner: the process of finding a life partner with which to share the trials and tribulations of a difficult world is a lonely and difficult one. It seems crazy for something so vital to so often rely heavily on chance meetings and the assumption that one day you may just bump into that special someone who shares the same passions and interests as you. Users of online sites are able to build themselves a ‘shopping list’ of the qualities they desire in a potential partner, or browse through the profiles of single men and women in their local area without ever leaving their armchair and make contact with the press of a button – and whilst its by no means guaranteed to work, there are thousands of documented success stories that point to the fact that for people across the UK happiness IS just the click of a mouse away.
The shift from real-world matchmaking to cyberspace hasn’t changed some dating habits however. A 2008 survey found that almost 40% of British people going on a date make a point of buying new or ‘lucky’ pants beforehand — with the average dating singleton in the UK spending £38 on such pants each year. That’s something unlikely to appear on anyone’s dating profile!
Interested in online dating in your area? Try our very own site at http://www.localdates.co.uk/ today — registration is free!
