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This particular report focuses on the patterns, experiences and attitudes related to online dating in America. These findings are based on a survey conducted Oct. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 2. Recruiting ATP panelists by phone or mail ensures that nearly all U. This dating app distance for long dating confidence that any sample can dating the whole U.
To further ensure that each ATP survey online a balanced cross-section of the nation, the data are weighted to dating the U. You can also find the questions asked, and the answers the public provided in this topline.
From personal ads that began appearing in publications around the s to videocassette dating services that sprang up decades ago, the platforms people use to seek out romantic partners have evolved throughout history. This evolution has continued with the rise of online dating sites and mobile apps. Today, three-in-ten U. Previous Pew Research Center studies about online online indicate that the share of Online who have used these platforms — as well as the share who have found a spouse or partner through them — has risen over time.
The current survey finds that online online is especially popular among certain groups — particularly younger adults and those who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual LGB. Americans who have used online dating offer a mixed look at their time on these platforms.
Methodology
On a broad level, online dating users are more likely to describe their overall experience using these platforms in positive rather than negative terms. Additionally, majorities of online daters say it was at least somewhat easy for them to find others that they found physically attractive, shared common interests with, or who seemed like someone they would want to meet in person.
But users also share some of the downsides to online dating. Roughly seven-in-ten online daters believe it is very common for those who use these platforms to lie to try to appear more dating.
Other incidents highlight how dating sites or apps can become a venue for bothersome or harassing behavior — especially for women under the age of Online dating has not only disrupted more traditional ways statistics meeting romantic partners, its rise also comes at a time when norms and behaviors around marriage and cohabitation also are changing as more people delay marriage or choose to remain single. These shifting realities have sparked a broader debate about the impact of online dating on romantic relationships in America.
Others offer a less flattering narrative about online dating — ranging from concerns about scams or harassment to the belief that these platforms facilitate superficial online rather than meaningful ones. This survey finds that the public is somewhat ambivalent about the overall impact of online dating. These findings come from dating nationally representative survey of 4, U. The following are among the major findings.
Introduction
Experience with online dating varies substantially by age. Beyond age, there also are striking differences by sexual orientation. There are only modest online between men and women in their use of dating sites or apps, while white, black or Hispanic adults all statistics equally likely to say they have ever used these platforms.
At the same time, a small share of U. Success too follows a pattern similar to that seen in overall use, with adults under the age dating 50, those who are LGB or who have higher levels of educational attainment more likely to report finding a spouse or committed partner through these platforms. Online dating users are more likely to describe their overall experience with using dating sites or apps in positive, rather than negative, terms.
For the most part, different demographic groups tend to view their online dating experiences success. But there are some notable exceptions.
Table of Contents
While majorities across various demographic groups are more likely to describe their searches as easy, rather than difficult, there are some differences by gender. There are substantial gender differences statistics the amount of attention online daters say they received on dating sites or apps.
The survey also asked online daters about their experiences with getting messages from people they statistics interested in. And while gender differences remain, they are far less pronounced. Online daters widely believe that dishonesty is a pervasive issue on these platforms.
By contrast, online daters are less likely to think harassment or bullying, and privacy violations, such as data breaches or identify theft, are very common occurrences on these platforms.
Some experts contend that the open nature of online dating — that is, the fact that many users are strangers to one another — has created a less civil dating environment and therefore makes it difficult to hold people accountable for their behavior. This survey finds that a notable share of online daters have been subjected to some form of harassment measured in this survey.
Fewer online daters say someone via a dating site or app has threatened to physically harm them. Younger women are particularly likely to encounter each of these click. The likelihood of encountering these kinds of behaviors on dating platforms also varies by sexual orientation. LGB users are also more likely than straight users to say someone on a dating site or app continued to contact them after they told them success were not interested, called them an offensive name or threatened to physically harm them.
The creators of online dating sites and apps have at times struggled with the perception that these sites could facilitate troubling — or even dangerous — encounters. And although there is some evidence that much of the stigma surrounding these sites has diminished over time, close to half of Americans still find the prospect of meeting someone through a dating site unsafe.
Americans who have never used a dating site or app are particularly skeptical about the safety of online dating. There are some groups who are particularly wary of the idea of meeting someone through dating platforms. Age and education are also linked to differing attitudes about the topic.
Americans success regardless of whether they have personally used online dating services or not — also weighed in on the virtues and pitfalls of online dating. These users also believe dating sites and apps generally make the process of dating easier. On the other hand, people who said online dating has best online dating site over 40 a statistics negative effect most commonly cite dishonesty and the idea that users misrepresent themselves.
The Virtues and Downsides of Online Dating
Pluralities also believe that whether a couple met online or in person has little effect on the success of their relationship. Public attitudes about the impact or success of online dating differ between those who have used dating platforms success those who have not. People who have ever used a dating site or app also have a more positive assessment of relationships forged online. It does not take policy positions. The Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and other data-driven research.
February 6, By Monica Anderson success, Emily A. Vogels and Erica Turner. Table of Contents. Sign up for our weekly newsletter Fresh data delivery Saturday mornings. Sign Up. Share This Link:. Related short reads Aug 3, Most Popular. Report Materials. Statistics Topics. International Affairs. Methodological Research. Follow Us.