The concept of online dating is simple for users to understand. Single individuals seeking relationships use any online dating application to meet other singles with the same intention as the user that they are seeking out. Picking the proper site for the user’s overall goal is easy as long as the user does some research into the site. The following sections will discuss what online dating is, who is using online dating sites, which sites fulfill which purpose, and how online dating sites are utilized to be successful.
5.2.1 Concepts of Online Dating
Online dating is for a variety of people seeking many different types of relationships. Online dating is using a particular website or mobile application for the purpose of meeting a potential romantic partner. In particular, many single people use online dating sites to meet future partners. Dating online allows users to communicate and interact with many different people that have the same interests. There are some users who are looking for a short term companionship instead of a long term relationship. The digital world provides dating sites that cater to different types of customers. There are dating sites for those seeking marriage and those seeking the hookup culture. The hookup culture is a new phenomenon where single individuals are seeking only a physical relationship on a short term basis. Sites make this possible by acquiring less information about the user than is gathered in those seeking a spouse or long term partner. Tinder only uses location and age range to determine matches to successfully create a hook up atmosphere. For sites such as Match.com, much more time goes into determining matches to create a more serious relationship environment.
5.2.2 Who is using online dating?
Almost 50 million American singles use online dating sites [2]. There are many different age groups that have joined online dating services. As shown in Figure 1, the largest percent of users are between 25 and 34 at 22% [4]. Middle aged adults are known as the “thin dating market” because the amount of available singles decreases as individuals age [4]. The number of young adults 18-24 years old using online dating websites has tripled since 2013 from 10% to 27% [5]. In addition, the number of people 55-64 years old using online dating has doubled from 6% to 12% [5].
Figure 1: The amount of Americans in each age group that have used online dating according to the PEW research center.
As of 2016, 80% of adults that used online dating believed it is a great tool to meet new people [5]. In addition, 61% of online dating users felt that online dating was much easier form of dating than traditional methods [5]. Women are currently more likely to receive a response one an online dating application or site than a man [5]. In fact, women are 17 times more likely to receive a response, in comparison to men. [5]
5.2.3 Online Dating Services
Before joining an online dating website or mobile application, users should be aware of different types of online dating sites available. There are currently a variety of online dating options including traditional, long-term, niche, and casual. Users must also decide if they would like to select a free or paid dating site. Typically, when choosing a paid dating site, customers find individuals that are seeking long lasting relationships [6].
Traditional dating sites, those that appeal to the majority of goals like marriage and casual dating, typically have the largest amount of customers [7]. A traditional site is for an individual looking for a typical relationship that starts with dating and has the potential for a long-term relationship, i.e. marriage [7] . Match.com, OKCupid.com, and POF.com are examples of well-known traditional dating sites. Traditional dating sites are a combination of casual and long-term dating services. Casual dating sites are for singles looking for spontaneous dates [7]. Badoo and Tinder are examples of casual dating sites. Long-term relationship sites are geared towards customer seeking love. These sites focus on finding compatible matches for their users. Singles seeking long-term relationships tend to use sites including eHarmony or ChristianMingle.com [7]. Last but not least, niche online dating sites are for a particular group of people. There are a variety of different niche groups that focus on religion, job title, or sexual orientation [7]. Farmersonly is a niche website specifically for farmers. In figure 2, each dating site is briefly described and an example is given.
Table 1: Online Dating Services
| Site | Type | URL | Brief Description |
| eHarmony | Long-term | http://www.eharmony.com/ | eHarmony is responsible for around five hundred marriages daily. |
| ChristianMingle.com | Long-term | https://www.christianmingle.com/ | ChristianMingle currently has over 15 million users. This site is for a single seeking marriage within the Christian faith. |
| Match.com | Traditional | http://www.match.com | Match.com serves 24 countries in 15 languages. It works for long and short term relationship experiences. |
| OKCupid | Traditional | https://www.okcupid.com/ | OKCupid is a free site with an optional premium membership. This site works for users looking for either long or short term relationships. |
| POF.com | Traditional | http://www.pof.com/ | POF.com stands for Plenty of Fish. This is the largest completely free online dating service. This site is great for both long and short term dating. |
| Famersonly | Niche | http://www.farmersonly.com/ | This site is for farmers to use only. |
| Geek2Geek | Niche | http://www.gk2gk.com/ | This sites is aimed for ‘nerdy’ singles in the user’s area. |
| Tinder | Causal | https://www.gotinder.com/ | This a mobile application dating tool. This app has around fifty million downloads. It is typically used for causal connections. |
| Badoo | Casual | https://badoo.com/ | This is a mobile application dating tool. It currently of two hundred ninety million users. |
5.2.4 Online Dating Techniques for a Successful Experience
How can one succeed in online dating? There are many online dating trends, users believe, that affect the amount of matches they receive. For example, men are likely to lie about their height, age, and financial status [2]. Women are mostly likely to lie about their physical appearances, age, and weight [2].
With this in mind, creating the best online profile to maximize match results is not difficult. When describing your life and personality, users should be exciting and creative [8]. It is also suggested not to use ‘I’ to describe yourself. For example, stay away from using phrases “I like this, I do that, and I hate that.” Next, make sure to proofread your profile for spelling and grammatical errors [8].
Next, stay away from commonly used phrases such as “Looking for a soulmate” or “I love long walks on the beach” [8]. The purpose of a dating profile is to appear unique among thousands of people. Also, avoid bragging about appearances and personal accomplishments. In addition, making comments about minimum salaries for potential suitors is a major no. After putting a lot of time into your own profile, make sure to carefully read through other’s [6].
When you create your profile, it is important to be honest if you are seeking a committed relationship on online dating sites [8]. Lying is one of the major reasons that online dating relationships do not succeed [8]. For example, in figure 2, the user was honest with potential matches about not wanting children in the future and disliking smoking.
In addition to creating the perfect profile, beware of common online dating mistakes. When deciding on a photo do not chose the best photo [6]. Typically, people do not look like their best photo. When meeting in person with a potential suitor, this picture can seem very misleading [6]. A realistic and normal photo should be displayed, especially when seeking a long-term relationship [6]. In figure 2, the user has chosen a realistic photo that does not appear to be retouched. This photo selection will be beneficial when he meets his matches in person.
Figure 2: A screenshot of a potential OKcupid online dating profile
While creating an honest profile, it is also important to consider the danger of online dating as well. For example, identity theft can be a concern, so remember to be cautious when sharing personal information [6]. When meeting a match for the first time, choose a public place and let a friend or family member know where and when you are meeting a match.
Lastly, make your search for matches broad that way you are meeting many different people. The purpose of online dating is to meet people you would not typically meet in your day to day life. Overall, creating the perfect online dating profile can be a difficult and frustrating task, but if done correctly can get the desired results.
5.2.5 How Matches are Made
There are many different methods that can be used to establish matches through online dating. Some services use a match percentage to determine the similarity between two individual users. This is usually done by comparing user’s answers to a list of questions. In figure 3, an example of how the questions are displayed is shown in a screenshot from eHarmony’s website [9]. The more similar answers between two profiles, the higher the match percentage [10]. In attempts for more accurate matches, some sites allow customers to rank the importance of their question answers [10]. For example, Match.com may ask if the user’s potential partner should have a college education [10]. The answer to this question maybe very important where the favorite type of music may not be as important. This method provides another layer to completing the matching process. The match percentage approach is done systematically meaning with computer systems.
Figure 3: An example of an eHarmony questionnaire
Okcupid uses a matching algorithm that focuses on three main aspects illustrated in figure 4 [11]. The algorithm begins by collecting data from users. In this case, the data is collected in the form of a question. The question is asked in three parts including your answers, the answer you would like a match to give, and finally how important the potential match’s answer is to you. Once all three parts to the question is answered, the answers are given a point value.
Figure 4: Diagram that illustrates how OKcupid requires their users to answer questions [12].
Figure 5: This figure helps illustrate an example question for OKcupid users. In this case the first answer (“Me”) is the user’s answer. The second answer (“You”) is how they would like the potential match to answer. The last answer (“Importance”) is how important it is that the potential match answers the way the user expects [12].
For example, both individuals are asked if they like to sleep in. The answer to this question is illustrated in figure 5 [11]. The importance of the potential match’s answer is ranked as follows: ‘irrelevant’ equals zero, ‘a little important’ equals one, ‘somewhat important’ equals 10, ‘very important’ equals 50, and ‘mandatory’ equals 250. Then, calculation is done to see how much the potential match’s answer satisfied what you are looking for in a partner. In this case, the female in figure said she did not like to sleep in, she wanted her match to answer the same, but it was only a little important. The male in figure determine he did like to sleep in but he want his potential match to answer no and it was somewhat important. As a result, the women received a ten out of ten on that question because it was somewhat important to the male and her answer matched what he was looking for. The male however received a zero out of one because his answer did not match and it was a little important to the female potential match. This is done with every question okcupid ask its clients so that stronger matches can be made. For a better understating, please visit and watch this brief video created by one of OKcupid founders [11].