Online dating has been on the rise since they were first started. One Pew Research Center study found that nearly a third of Americans in 2019 were using online dating sites, which shows an increase from the 11 percent using them in 2013. From that study, Pew reported 12 percent had gotten married or found a long-term, committed relationship because of online dating apps.
This has been a practical solution for many people who are short on time. People can meet others based on similar profiles and preferences with online dating apps—saving them hundreds of hours at bars, clubs, or other places where they might meet a potential match. Busy Americans can go through matches throughout their workday or on their time off without ever leaving the house.
The pandemic
has only served to increase the value of online dating sites. Match Group saw
its biggest increase in 2020 when Tinder reported 11 percent more swipes and 42
percent more matches in 2020.
This comes right on the heels of some major controversy for the dating app group. In 2017, Tinder’s Co-Founder and CEO Sean Rad was pushed out by the Match Group for accusations of secretly filming conversations with employees.
Despite some of the drama surrounding the dating sites, people are finding lasting love. Pew found that 57 percent of participants had positive experiences with online dating and only 9 percent described it as “very negative.” According to Statista, there are 44.2 million online dating users in the US.
During a time where people are encouraged to practice social distancing, most dating apps are discouraging hookups and encouraging more online communication before meetups. While online dating was once considered a strange connection story, more and more individuals have found their partners on apps like Match.com and Tinder.
In a strange turn of events, online dating apps are helping police catch suspects. A Bumble match found one of the people responsible for attacking police and breaking into the Capitol. Though dating apps aren’t commonly used for catching suspects, Andrew Taake’s bragging led to his Bumble match turning him into the FBI.
The confession that he had spent at least 30 minutes in the building and “was there from the very beginning” was enough to connect him to the images and videos from that day. Prosecutors told the court they had evidence he attacked police who were defending the building on January 6, including using pepper spray and a metal whip.
suit, she said they were belittling, abusive, and ultimately fired her after she tried to hand in her resignation.
Match Group
is working to clean up the leadership to keep the apps out of the limelight for
the wrong reasons. Subscribers catching and turning suspects into the FBI is a
pretty good reason to land in the headlines.