I’m gonna be upfront: I have a pretty big marshmallow in this campfire. You see, I met my boyfriend on OkCupid! I was instantly drawn to his shapely nose (it’s a thing), and I messaged him right away because his “most private thing I’m willing to admit” was that he was terrified by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial as a child. Wouldja believe it, so was I! It’s been nearly two years (aw babe!) and we still do not speak of the film. Shudder. Let’s keep it that way.
So when I heard that Consumers’ Research compiled a mountain of data about relationships formed on dating apps, I swiped right over. What would their data tell me about my relationship?!
According to Pew Research, 5% of couples – married or otherwise committed – stem from online dating, so I just gotta ask, where are the other 95% meeting each other? In the laundromat? The grocery checkout line? Did your Dalmatians wrap their leashes around your legs and you just went with it? No judgement. Mazel tov!
Of the men and women surveyed, 50% reported being Tinder-ers, with nearly a quarter saying “Okay!” to OkCupid, less than 10% each on Match.com, eHarmony and “other,” and 4% of you grinding away on Grindr. Consumers’ Research focused on Tinder, OkCupid, Match, and eHarmony for the rest of their research.
As far as relationships went, 47% of Tinderellas and Tinder-fellas said their swiping led to successful relationships of any length, compared to 50% of OkCupid users. All right, Tinder. However, when asked if those relationships lasted longer than a month, that number fell to 32% for OkCupid users and plummeted to 13% for Tinderers. Womp womp!
When it came to harassment, 57% of women surveyed said that they experienced harassment, compared to 21% of men. OkCupid and Tinder, the most popular apps by far, were neck-in-neck with harassment, with 38% to 39% of users reporting creepers on the apps, respectively.
So, what does this mean for me and my marshmallow? Not a whole lot. Dating, whether on- or off-line, seems to be a crapshoot. The one thing that seems to increase your chances of a successful love match, according to the Consumers’ Research survey, is sending those messages! While the majority of users averaged 6 communications per day, those who sent more messages ended up in relationships more often. This despite the fact that, as they noted, “the majority of correspondences lasted less than a week.” Moral of the story? Keep putting yourself out there! More is better, in messages and Dalmatians!
Good luck, daters!!
I Saw You on TInder image via Denis Bocquet on Flickr
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