A few months ago at the gym, I watched in awe from my perch atop a stairclimber as a man pedaling away on a stationary bike below opened up Bumble and proceeded to rapid-fire right-swipe every single profile that appeared on his screen.

I&#;d heard rumors that this was a thing men did before, but I always assumed it couldn&#;t be true. &#;Doesn&#;t he just end up with way too many matches?&#; I once asked a then-boyfriend who told me his friend was guilty of this bad dating-app behavior.

&#;Not really,&#; he said. I had long assumed that this guy must not have been blessed with a particularly app-friendly face, but watching that perfectly inoffensive-looking Bumble biker rapid right swipe to startlingly few matches (or at least few immediate matches) a few years later, it occurred to me that dating apps might just be a more competitive landscape for men than they are for your average, often match- and message-burdened woman.

New data from the Pew Research Center&#;s recent deep dive into the state of online dating today seems to confirm this theory. According the new report, Pew&#;s first comprehensive analysis of the online dating landscape since , men report being significantly less satisfied with the amount of attention they receive on dating apps compared to female swipers.

Related: 20 Things to Stop Doing on Dating Apps in

While a total of 43 percent of online daters in America reported feeling they do not receive enough enough messages on dating apps, broken down by gender, that percentage shot up to 57 percent of men, compared to just 24 percent of women who felt similarly disappointed. And while a mere 8 percent of men reported receiving too many messages, 30 percent of women felt overwhelmed by the volume of suitors flooding their inbox.

Perhaps some of that fatigue comes from the fact that women on dating apps were also much more likely than men to report experiencing harassment on the app, including 46 percent of women who reported receiving unsolicited sexual messages or images from a match. Harassment on the apps is an even bigger problem for young women in particular, with 57 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 34 saying they&#;ve experienced sexual harassment — roughly twice the number of male users in the same age bracket who reported the same.

As Pew Research Center associate director of internet and technology research Monica Anderson noted in an interview published alongside the new report, these findings are consistent with larger trends outside the context of online dating: a Center survey found that young women were much more likely than young men to report having ever received unsolicited images of a sexual nature.

&#;This research highlights how more sexualized forms of online harassment — regardless of the venue — are a common part of the online experience for younger women and teen girls,&#; Anderson said, though the report also noted that members of the LGBTQ community were more likely to experience harassment on the apps than straight users, regardless of gender.

Related: The Swipe Right Generation Turns 40

However, neither men&#;s disappointment with their inbox status nor women&#;s brushes with sexual harassment seemed to dampen overall satisfaction with the online dating experience. Over half of all online daters in the U.S. reported a somewhat or very positive experience, with negligible difference between men and women. Meanwhile, LGBTQ daters were even more likely to report an overall positive online dating experience.

This is all good news, considering the report also found that online dating in America has grown rapidly, with the total percentage of online daters in the country shooting up to 30 percent from just 11 percent back in Love it or hate it, dating apps are proving to be more than just a millennial fad, and their effect on the dating landscape is only becoming more pronounced as app culture heads into its second decade.

In the meantime, the biggest takeaway here for men is: if you want to get more messages on dating apps, maybe stop harassing women on them. Just a thought!

Main Findings

• As many as one-in-three people are dating online
• People turn to online dating for a variety of reasons – 48% do it for fun, while some look for more meaningful relationships and one-in-ten are simply looking for sex (13%)
• People share information with others too easily when they are dating online, with a quarter (25%) admitting they share their full name publicly on their dating profile. One-in-ten have shared their home address, and the same number have shared naked photos of themselves this way, exposing them to risk
• Even though lying is one of the most hated aspects of online dating, 57% of online daters lie to each other, faking a range of attributes such as their names, marital status, location and appearance
• People are concerned for their safety when they date online, with some of the main concerns involving worries about IT security – for example, 63% are concerned about the device they use for online dating becoming infected and 61% are concerned about their data being stolen or leaked from the dating app or service itself
• These concerns are well-founded – 55% have experienced some form of threat or problem while dating online. And, people that use online dating are twice as likely to experience an IT security incident than people that don&#;t (41% vs 20%), primarily due to their increased level of online activity in general
• Protection is also an issue for people that indulge in online dating. Just 27% of online daters use a security solution to protect their device and 16% do nothing at all to protect themselves as they see no risk

Introduction

Digital technology, especially smart devices, have transformed many aspects of our society, including how people meet each other and establish relationships – romantic or otherwise.

Attitudes towards dating apps and services have grown progressively more positive in recent years. Testament to this fact, when Pew Research Centre first questioned Americans about online dating in , just 44% said the activity is a good way to meet people, and the majority thought it was a poor replacement for striking up relationships in the &#;real&#; world. But the way we communicate, meet and express our love has changed dramatically since then, and when Pew Research Centre repeated the study ten years later, the number that considered online dating to be a good way of meeting people had grown to 59%.

How we conduct our relationships is changing, and it&#;s clear that technology has a key part to play in this change. People are now not only turning to their devices to work, shop, and play, but to manage their personal lives and relationships too.

Online dating is becoming more popular. But with concerns rife following incidents such as the infamous Ashley Madison breach, and with the process inherently requiring users to share personal information, it&#;s important to consider the potential dangers involved. Are online daters giving away too much about themselves? Are they, through online dating, exposing themselves and their devices to malicious people – or indeed malware – all too easily?

To understand the topic better and to help users protect themselves when they are dating online, Kaspersky Lab has undertaken a study into people&#;s online dating habits. The following report summarises our findings.

Methodology

An online survey conducted by research firm B2B International and Kaspersky Lab in August assessed the attitudes of 21, users aged over 16 years old from 32 countries.

This report outlines the responses of 6, online dating users from 30 of the countries surveyed (answers from respondents in China and the UAE have been excluded) regarding their online activity, including the types of devices they use, the kind of information they share, and any concerns they might have about online dating apps and services.

Data was weighted to be globally representative and consistent, split equally between men and women, and not all the results from the study have been included in this report. To request further data please contact Kaspersky Lab at prhq@www.chevaliercompetences.fr

Look around. Someone near you is dating online

Online dating provides users with the ideal place to meet people that have similar likes, dislikes and character traits to them. It improves the chances of a user actually liking the person they&#;re going to meet on a date (because they can search for people that meet certain criteria), and, if you believe the online dating services themselves, an increasing number of people are also now finding lasting and meaningful relationships online. Considering all of this, perhaps it&#;s no surprise our study found that as many as 32% of Internet users are dating online.

So, if one-in-three people out there are doing it, who is the typical online dater?

Although such a large number of people are dating online, our study has found that if you decide to take part, you are most likely to be in the company of users that meet the following criteria.

People that date online are most likely to be:

• years old on average
• Working full-time (63%)
• Slightly more likely to be male than female (39% of men date online vs 25% of women)
• Device-savvy – they have around 5 mobile devices compared to the usual 3 per household
• They are most likely to work as medium-level managers (20%) or be highly qualified specialists such as scientific workers, teachers and engineers (19%)

Many people that are on the online dating scene are young, as the average age suggests, with 43% of year olds using online dating services. This tech-savvy age group is likely embracing online dating as a way to meet interesting new people while balancing busy professional lives.

Meanwhile, people that class themselves as the head of a company or business owners make up a surprisingly large one-in-ten (11%) of the online dating population. Interestingly, we also found that 31% of people that are married or living with a partner are using online dating.

Online daters are most likely to visit dating apps and services from Windows PCs and Android smartphones than any other type of device. And, 51% of online daters admit to using a device that they use for work to carry out their online dating activities, despite the fact that they may be putting confidential corporate data at risk by doing so.

A pocket-sized relationship?

So why are these people going online to start up relationships with others? Certainly, online dating provides all the convenience of making it quick and easy to meet people. Plus, it&#;s an activity that&#;s available across multiple devices, at all times of day and night.

Our study asked people why they turn to online dating and while half (48%) said they mostly use online dating for fun, other reasons were also evident, with some saying they are looking for more meaningful relationships, and around one-in-ten simply looking for sex (13%).

These findings suggest that there is still a degree of cynicism around the success of online dating, with people being twice as likely to look for &#;fun&#; online, than love (a partner). However, with so many people turning to online dating for such a variety of reasons, it&#;s clear that the activity is literally allowing people to carry their relationships around with them wherever they go.

Gender differences also come into play. For example, men are much more likely than women to use online dating for sex (18% vs 5%), whereas men and women are equally as likely to be looking for new friends.

What people get up to when they&#;re dating online

While many different types of people go online to date – and they do it for multiple reasons, our study also asked people about what they get up to when they are dating online, in order to understand the potential security implications.

It&#;s all in the profile

The profile is understandably a crucial part of online dating. It allows users to share snippets of their lives. It acts as a window, or a preview of a person, enticing others to reach out to them or find out more.

Is the profile crucial to the success of online dating? Yes. But is profile information secure? No. We found that a worrying number of online dating users are, through their profiles, placing sensitive information about themselves into the public domain, which could potentially lead them to harm if the information was to fall into the wrong hands.

For example, one-in-ten online dating users have shared their full home address publicly on their profile, have shared details about their work/ trade secrets, or personal details about their family in this way.

Many share photos of themselves or their loved ones this way – 15% using online dating have shared photos of their family publicly by displaying them on their profile and 17% have shared photos of their friends. Even more worryingly, one-in-ten (9%) have even shared intimate photos of themselves publicly on their profile, literally exposing themselves to the danger of having their precious or sensitive images mistreated by total strangers.

Matching up to danger

People tend to share their information even more willingly with matches and it doesn&#;t take long for online daters to be persuaded to part with personal information about themselves, such as their home address or phone number.

People are more likely to give up information to those they have been &#;matched&#; with in the online dating world – 16% give out personal details to matches, 15% tell matches embarrassing things about themselves and 14% provide their matches with private or unclothed photos of themselves. All of this information, in the wrong hands, can be used to track online dating users and their families online and offline, to crack their accounts by guessing passwords, for blackmail, and more. What&#;s more, this risky sharing happens faster than you might expect.

Giving out this information can mean that a relationship struck up online can enter the real world very quickly – with people going from being strangers, to being able to access an online dater&#;s home address or phoneline within a matter of minutes. That, of course, is not always a safe or a good thing.

However, there is a disparity between men and women. When it comes to personal information, men are ready to share information about themselves much faster than women are. Female users are likely to share information after several months (25% vs 16%), while men are significantly more likely to hand over their personal details after just minutes or hours (16% vs 9%).

Turn-offs

Despite the high proportion of people who use online dating services or apps, there are several factors that can put users off.

For example, one-in-ten users overall are worried about receiving malicious links or malware that infects their device and 9% are being put off by scammers that try to extort information or financial details from them. In both cases, entrepreneurs and self-employed online daters are the most worried about these threats, with 12% of this group worried about malware and 15% concerned about scammers.

Overall, 9% are also put off online dating by people who send overly private or unclothed images, and 7% are put off the activity when the information they share on dating services is used by others to harm them in some way. But coming across fake information – such as false photos (19%), fake relationship expectations (12%) and dishonest relationship statuses (11%) – was cited by respondents as the most common reason people are put off online dating services overall.

Faking it

People might turn to online dating for fun and to strike up new relationships, but ironically our study shows that a large number of people lie in the process, and this in itself is off-putting. 57% of online daters admitted they lie, most of whom (67%) turned out to be married men.

Among those that admitted they lie during online dating, the most popular things to lie about include their names, marital status, location and appearance – such as by showing fake photos. Yet, those who &#;fake it&#; are ironically the most likely to be put off online dating because of the amount of false information they come across. Perhaps they don&#;t enjoy a taste of their own medicine? Either way, people faking it is one of the most hated aspects of online dating.

So, why are people lying online? Our study offers up many reasons including one-in-ten online daters (11%) using fake accounts as a way to protect themselves from harm. But other reasons vary from people trying to catch their partners cheating, to trying to make themselves look better, or simply lying for the fun of it.

Safety first. People&#;s concerns about dating online

With people lying for a variety of reasons online, safety, naturally, becomes something that we should question. You wouldn&#;t trust a stranger in the street who lies to you about themselves, so why should you let them into your digital life, or give them access to sensitive information about yourself?

With online dating so prevalent, users are clearly giving strangers access to their lives, which could perhaps be why those who date online have concerns about their online safety.

We found that vulnerable people such as the unemployed, and unmarried women, tend to be most concerned about meeting &#;people with bad intentions&#; through their online dating activities. Meanwhile, older age groups have slightly different concerns. year olds, for example, tend to be concerned about the possibility of not being able to delete their information from online dating sites, and people aged 65+ are more concerned about fraud.

Overall though, some of the main concerns about dating online involve worries about data protection, with 61% of users being worried about their data being leaked from the dating service/app itself.

In addition, 63% are concerned about the device they use for online dating being infected by malware, demonstrating a heightened feeling of insecurity among the online dating community.

When it all goes wrong

Sometimes, people&#;s concerns about online dating do become a reality. After all, online dating, just like dating in the real-world, doesn&#;t always go to plan, and it can hurt when this happens.

Overall, 55% of people that date online have experienced some form of threat or problem – ranging from IT security incidents to meeting up with people that didn&#;t turn out to be who they claimed, or being rejected by potential matches.

The data suggests that men put themselves at risk more than women. Twice as many male online daters said their device has been infected with malware, spyware or ransomware and 13% of men had been sent phishing emails that claimed to be from an online dating site, compared to just 7% of women.

In contrast, 15% of women said they had been involved in a conversation that made them feel uncomfortable compared to just 10% of men.

When it comes to occupations, business owners (19%) were the most likely to have had their device infected with malware or ransomware, while entrepreneurs or self-employed daters were most likely to have met someone who was not who they said they were.

People that date online also tend to conduct a higher proportion of other activities on the Internet, making them particularly vulnerable to the dangers of the online world – as well as to the &#;usual&#; risks of dating or arranging to meet up with people they don&#;t know or trust. This is perhaps one of the reasons why people that use online dating websites are therefore twice as likely to experience an IT security incident than people that don&#;t (41% compared to 20%).

Looking in more detail at the IT security incidents experienced by people that date online, there&#;s a wide range of things that can go wrong. For example, around one-in-three people that use online dating have had their device infected with malware or a virus compared to just 12% who don&#;t use online dating. In addition, around one-in-ten have had their device hacked, have had their data infected, shared, or become the victim of financial fraud.

Always use protection

So why are people that date online, experiencing more IT security problems than people that don&#;t? One obvious answer already touched upon is the fact that people involved in online dating do spend a lot of time online, and therefore might naturally come across more dangers than people who don&#;t. However, the study also shows that people are not protecting themselves properly when they are dating online.

Looking at the protection methods people put in place, just 36% use strong passwords to keep their information secure and only 27% use a security solution to help, leaving the majority exposed to risk. Worryingly, 16% do nothing to protect themselves at all, because they do not see the risk.

Despite not doing much to help themselves, 55% say that strong security and privacy practices are important to them when they choose an online dating website, service, or app, and only 12% do not know what security and privacy practices are. So, there is an awareness and certain level of concern about the dangers involved in online dating. This just needs to translate into action.

Conclusion: if you&#;re going to do it, do it safely

Today, people are time-poor, and we rely on our digital devices to help us manage our schedules, our busy lives, and how we interact with others. Digital devices act as a window to the rest of the world, including our relationships.

This is even more the case where online dating is concerned. This form of striking up new relationships is entirely dependent on our digital platforms or smart devices. People are, because of online dating, literally carrying their dates around with them in their pockets.

While this comes with a large amount of convenience, it also comes with its own risks. Like any form of dating, meeting up with strangers isn&#;t always plain-sailing and this is also the case online. Online dating, indeed, requires the exchange of a certain level of information which, if placed in the wrong hands, can be misused.

Needless to say, our study has found that people that take part in online dating, are likely to share sensitive information with people they don&#;t know, or have only just met. What&#;s more, they share this data quickly. They are also at heightened risk of experiencing an IT security-related problem such as having their data leaked or exposed in some way. Yet, they do little to protect themselves, with only one-in-three putting basic security measures in place such as using strong passwords or restraining themselves to sharing limited information about themselves online.

The boundary between online dating and the real world can very easily be blurred. Information about home addresses, once shared, can very quickly result in strangers turning up on doorsteps, personal information and sensitive photos can very easily turn into blackmail opportunities or put hacked accounts in the hands of cybercriminals.

Far from advising people to reduce their online dating activities, we simply would like to advise online daters to exercise caution, just like they would in the physical world. If you chose to date online, be careful not to click on unknown links that could be malicious, and try to avoid using insecure Wi-Fi hotspots where data can be intercepted by cybercriminals.

Furthermore, use protection in the form of a security solution and strong, hard-to-guess passwords, be savvy about how much data you give away and, importantly, look after the data you care about the most. That&#;s where Kaspersky Lab can help.

In recent years, online dating has become the premier way couples meet, now having a market share of nearly 40%, according to a study. All other ways of meeting besides bars and restaurants are in decline, as shown in the figure below:

Source: Rosenfeld, et. al. PNAS, Sept. 3,  

Due to the inherently digital nature of online dating sites and apps, they provide significant amounts of hard data about how people behave on them. This allowed researchers to learn a great deal about the dynamics of online dating.

We now know, for example, many of the factors that affect subjective perceptions of attractiveness as revealed in user ratings or “likes.” At the macro level, this has revealed that people can be penalized based on their race. At the micro level, it seems that pictures with cats reduce the like rate of heterosexuals, while those with dogs raise their like rate.

It has also been discovered that the age of the men that women rate as most attractive scales roughly linearly with their own age, while men of all ages rate women in their early 20s as most attractive. And men tend to rate female attractiveness on a curve resembling a normal distribution, with most women rated around average, with fewer at the extremes. But women rate the vast majority of men as below average in attractiveness, and only a few as above average. 

The dynamics of attraction also change over time, as a article on online dating in The Atlantic noted (the figure below, which shows how relative attractiveness changes by age, is from an academic study cited by the article, where researchers used Google’s page rank algorithm to rate the attractiveness of men and women on an undisclosed dating site in four cities). On average, users rate women as more attractive than men during their 20s, but in their early 30s, this reverses. From that point on, users rate men as more attractive than women on average.

These sites also generate significant levels of inequality, especially for men. One analyst found that “like inequality” for men on Tinder is higher than income inequality in the United States (he created the chart below). An analyst at Hinge found that women’s inequality on that site was roughly equal to the average income inequality for the world’s countries (a Gini coefficient of ), similar to Western Europe. But men’s like inequality (a Gini coefficient of ) would rate as the eighth most unequal country in the world in terms of income inequality.

Inequality may result from a process similar to globalization. Prior to globalization, economic markets in most goods and services were primarily domestic, or even local in nature. These markets each had their own champions, their own winners and losers. Globalization merged these into a single, global market. This had profound effects on winners and losers. A few of the best or cheapest competitors reaped significant gains while many former domestic champions or viable competitors lost out.

Online dating has had a similar effect. If not the actual globalization of dating, then it is at least the metropolitanization of it. Prior to online dating, men and women met each other primarily in physical spaces and through social circles in the real world: school, work, church, family, friendship circles, and neighborhoods. The markets were very fragmented. You could certainly meet someone outside of that, even intentionally, such as by looking at old-school personal ads in a newspaper, but the number of potential matches you could meet that way was very limited.

Because every school, neighborhood, church, etc. was in essence its own market, that meant they each had their own local marketplace winners. And people would often match up within that based on their relative value in the market.

But with online dating, all those old local relationships markets have been merged. Now everyone has access to a large number of singles throughout his or her area. That means in the online dating world, you are no longer just in competition with people in your social circles. You are also in competition with everyone in your city or region. It may be true that your pool of prospects is also bigger. But the dynamics of these global type markets have in practice tended to produce more extremes of winners and losers. (The extremely high levels of inequality for men in particular may also be driven by the highly-imbalanced gender ratios on these sites, with far more male than female users).

Online dating also skews very strongly towards appearance as an initial screening criterion. This is particularly true on today’s swipe apps like Tinder. Nobody has time to wade through all the singles listings in their area, and that tends to promote heavy filtering. And after setting filters like age, etc., the easiest and quickest thing to filter is looks. Apps like Bumble even severely restrict the amount of text you are allowed to put in your profile.

This benefits people who are very good looking but hurts those whose best qualities are in other areas. This is particularly the case for men, because while men do tend to find women attractive based on looks and age, women look at a much broader set of characteristics that don’t show as well in online dating apps. 

In summary, online dating has a number of characteristics that work against most people. People are penalized based on things like cats in photos that might have nothing to do with them as people. It’s not great for people who are not very good looking. The sites also generate high levels of inequality, especially for men. This puts most men at a disadvantage. But the same inequality gives the most attractive men enough options that there’s no incentive for them to commit, which also puts many women at a disadvantage, too. 

Lots of people did meet their spouse or significant other through online dating. If it’s a tool that works for you, there’s no reason not to use it. But especially for men who aren’t in the top 10 to 20% in looks, going back to the physical world and social circles of yesteryear may be a better option. Not only does this allow men to avoid the globalization effect of online dating, it also allows them to look for opportunities to let their best male attributes shine.

For example, when I wanted to ask my now wife to move from Indianapolis to New York to be with me, I invited her to attend a large event in Indiana where I was speaking. I wanted her to have the opportunity to see me stand up in front of hundreds of people and confidently and competently delivery a half-hour keynote address. 

As with so many other things about being a man, from being a musician to having a great a sense of humor and being a great conversationalist, there’s no way to convey the reality or impact of something like public speaking through an online dating profile. In the online dating world, you are going to be judged overwhelmingly by your looks. In the real world, there’s more opportunity to convey who you really are and showcase your best attributes as a man (or a woman, for that matter). In a world of low marriage rates, those looking for a lasting relationship rather than a hookup should perhaps rethink the virtues of meeting people in the offline world again.

Aaron M. Renn is the publisher of the Masculinist, a newsletter about Christianity, masculinity, and the modern world. This article was adapted from “The Truth About Online Dating,” originally published in the Masculinist.

According to a new study, some 90 million people around the world used location-based dating apps like Tinder and Momo last month. And it turns out that nearly two-thirds of those swipers were male.

Research firm GlobalWebIndex surveyed 32 countries, and found that 62% of dating app users are men. (No word on the percentage of Tinder-loving bros who take selfies with babies or tigers).

The news isn&#;t entirely surprising. In , Pew Research Center found that men were more active on dating apps and sites. Some 13% of American males had used an app or site, compared to only 9% of American women.

Although that doesn&#;t mean men spend more time on apps than their female counterparts. Tinder, which the New York Times estimated to have upwards of 50 million active users, said that while men spend minutes in an average session, women spend minutes swiping through options. Dudes also swipe &#;like&#; 46% of the time compared to women&#;s 14% of the time.

Quantity doesn&#;t equal quality, fellas.

(h/t: The Guardian)

Read next: Here’s Proof That Everyone Will Be Online Dating This Valentine’s Day

Contact us at letters@www.chevaliercompetences.fr

In the more than two decades since the launch of commercial dating sites such as www.chevaliercompetences.fr, online dating has evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry serving customers around the world. A new Pew Research Center study explores how dating sites and apps have transformed the way Americans meet and develop relationships, and how the users of these services feel about online dating.

Here are 10 facts from the study, which is based on a survey conducted among 4, U.S. adults in October

1Three-in-ten U.S. adults say they have ever used a dating site or app, but this varies significantly by age and sexual orientation. While 48% of to year-olds say have ever used a dating site or app, the share is 38% among those ages 30 to 49 and even lower for those 50 and older (16%). At the same time, personal experiences with online dating greatly differ by sexual orientation. Lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) adults are roughly twice as likely as those who are straight to say they ever used a dating platform (55% vs. 28%).

2A small share of Americans say they have been in a committed relationship with or married someone they met through a dating site or app. About one-in-ten U.S. adults say this (12%), though these shares are higher among LGB adults, as well as those ages 18 to

3Roughly six-in-ten online daters (57%) say they have had an overall positive experience with these platforms, including 14% who describe their experience as very positive and 43% who say it was somewhat positive. Fewer users – though still about four-in-ten – describe their online dating experience as at least somewhat negative, including 9% who describe it as very negative.

People’s assessments of their online dating experiences vary widely by socioeconomic factors. Around six-in-ten online daters with a bachelor’s or advanced degree (63%) say their experience has been very or somewhat positive, compared with 47% among those who have a high school diploma or less. The ratings online daters give their overall experience do not vary statistically by gender or race and ethnicity.

4While online daters generally say their overall experience was positive, they also point out some of the downsides of online dating. By a wide margin, Americans who have used a dating site or app in the past year say their recent experience left them feeling more frustrated (45%) than hopeful (28%).

Other sentiments are more evenly balanced between positive and negative feelings. Some 35% of current or recent users say that in the past year online dating has made them feel more pessimistic, while 29% say these platforms left them feeling more optimistic. Similarly, 32% say online dating sites or apps made them feel more confident, whereas 25% say it left them feeling more insecure.

5Majorities of online daters say it was at least somewhat easy to find potentially compatible partners. Many online daters say they could find people on these platforms who they were physically attracted to, shared their hobbies and interests, seemed like someone they would want to meet in person or were looking for the same kind of relationship as them. At the same time, there are some gender differences in how hard or easy users say it was to find compatible partners.

For example, women who have ever used a dating site or app are more likely than men to say they have found it very or somewhat difficult to find people they were physical attracted to (36% vs. 21%) or who like someone they would want to meet in person (39% vs. 32%). By contrast, male users are more inclined than female users to say it was at least somewhat difficult to find people who shared their hobbies and interests (41% vs. 30%).

6Women are more likely than men to categorize certain information as essential to see in other users’ profiles. Among online daters, 72% of women say it was very important to them that the profiles they looked at included the type of relationship the person was looking for, compared with about half of men (53%). Women who have online dated are also more likely than men to say it was very important to them that the profiles they looked through included a person’s religious beliefs (32% vs. 18%), occupation (27% vs. 8%) or height (22% vs. 8%).

Other gender differences – such as the importance of users including their hobbies and interests, their racial or ethnic background or their political affiliation – are more modest.

7There are stark gender differences in the amount of attention online daters say they received on these sites or apps. Overall, online daters are more likely to say they did not receive enough messages than to say they received too many, but users’ experiences vary by gender.

Roughly six-in-ten men who have online dated in the past five years (57%) say they feel as if they did not get enough messages, while just 24% of women say the same. Meanwhile, women who have online dated in this time period are five times as likely as men to think they were sent too many messages (30% vs. 6%).

8Younger women are especially likely to report having troublesome interactions on online dating platforms. About three-in-ten or more online dating users say someone continued to contact them on a dating site or app after they said they were not interested (37%), sent them a sexually explicit message or image they didn’t ask for (35%) or called them an offensive name (28%). About one-in-ten (9%) say another user has threated to physically harm them.

These rates are even higher among younger women. Six-in-ten female users ages 18 to 34 say someone on a dating site or app continued to contact them after they said they were not interested, while 57% report that another user has sent them a sexually explicit message or image they didn’t ask for. At the same time, 44% report that someone called them an offense name on a dating site or app, while 19% say they have had someone threaten to physically harm them.

9Americans have varying views about the safety of online dating. Roughly half of Americans overall (53%) say dating sites and apps are a very or somewhat safe way to meet people, while 46% believe they are not too or not at all safe.

Public perceptions about the safety of online dating vary substantially by personal experience. A majority of Americans who have ever used a dating site or app (71%) see online dating as a very or somewhat safe way to meet someone, compared with 47% of those who have never used these platforms.

Among the public as a whole, women are far more likely than men to say dating sites and apps are not a safe way to meet people (53% vs. 39%). Views on this question also vary substantially by age, educational attainment and race and ethnicity.

10More than half of Americans (54%) say relationships that begin on a dating site or app are just as successful as those that begin in person. A smaller share of U.S. adults – though still about four-in-ten – say these kinds of relationships are less successful than relationships that begin in person.

At the same time, half of Americans say online dating has had neither a positive nor negative effect on dating and relationships. Smaller shares say these platforms have had a mostly positive (22%) or mostly negative effect (26%).

Note: Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

In a data-driven world, numbers can help shape not just our business and finance decisions, but they can also help to shape how we date and find love. Wait, what? How are numbers going to help me find Mr. or Ms. Right? Well, if you know what to look for, numbers and online dating statistics can be your best wingman or wingwoman.

You see, online dating was created to help save you time, money, and lead you to the perfect man or woman you’re looking for! But, how can you make the online dating process more efficient and how can you have more success?

The answer lies in knowing as much as possible about the online dating landscape as possible.

Table of Contents

Online Dating Stigmas, Popularity, and Usage

• 15% Increase in US adults who think online dating is a good idea
• 6% Decrease in US adults who think people who use online dating sites are desperate
• 19% of all internet users are using an online dating site or app, 27% previously
• 36% of US dating app or dating site users use them daily

In the early days of online dating, it was highly regarded by people as being just for the weirdos and the shut-ins. How do we know this? Well, up until today, that was purely anecdotal, but we now have the dating statistics to back up what we were seeing. Let’s take a look at the online dating stigmas, popularity, and overall usage in the US.

From to , there was a 15% increase in US adults who thought that online dating was a good idea. This is a massive change in opinion and clearly shows that online dating has moved out of the dark crevices of the internet and into the mainstream.

During the same time period, there was a 6% decrease in US adults who think that people using online dating sites are desperate. Personally, we’d love to see this statistic drop all the way to zero, but we can’t control how other people think. Online dating is a way for busy adults who are tired of trolling bars to find quality singles.

Regarding overall dating site usage statistics, there are two key things we want to look at. First, 19% of all internet users say they are currently using an online dating site or app. Out of the remaining 81%, 27% of those say they have used one previously. This means out of 10 of your friends, 2 of them are currently using an online dating app and 2 of them previously have. Out of this 27%, 36% of those users say they are using their online dating apps daily in some way, shape, or form whether that be responding to messages, searching for new matches, or just looking at photos of people they are interested in.

Number of Dating Prospects at the Same Time

Ever wonder how many people your match is also talking to at the same time? Well, you’ll never know for sure without hacking into their online dating account, but dating statistics can give us a good insight into what the answer may be.

The largest data block here that makes up over 50% of the people is prospects. Probably the most astounding figure at least to us was that almost 20% of people are talking to 11 or more people at the same time. We’re not mad; we’re just impressed at how much they can juggle and keep straight at the same time. Curious why it might be taking a while for you to get a response to your first message? It’s either because you aren’t sending a great first message, or you’re talking to a juggler tossing 11+ singles around at the same time.

Men vs. Women Dating Statistics to Choose a Dating Site

• 67% of Tinder Users are Men, 33% Women
• An Equal Percentage of Men and Women Claim www.chevaliercompetences.fr as Their Favorite Dating App
• More Women Claim eHarmony as Their Favorite Dating App than Men

For those of you ladies out there that say Tinder is just a big sausage fest, you’re right. Just over 67% of the users on Tinder as per a recent study are said to be men. This leaves only 33% that are women. Sure, it only takes one person to be the right one, but that is definitely a significant variation amongst the sexes. Ladies, this means a lot more choices for you thanks to this online dating statistic.

If you’re looking for a more even match of men and women, then you’re looking for www.chevaliercompetences.fr According to a recent survey, the exact same percentage of men and women call www.chevaliercompetences.fr their favorite dating app. If you’ve spent any time on www.chevaliercompetences.fr, this probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise as from what we hear, there is a solid selection of high-quality people on both sides of the aisle.

So, we’ve talked about an online dating site or app that’s great for the women (Tinder), one that is equal across the board (www.chevaliercompetences.fr), but what about somewhere that’s great for the men? Well, a recent study has shown that more women than men claim eHarmony as their favorite dating app. This online dating statistic means that the ladies are finding quality men on eHarmony. Men, this means that if you’re a keeper and are struggling to find someone special, you may want to check out eHarmony because more women have that at the top of their favorites list.

Favorite Online Dating Site by Age Group in the United States

• 3 of the top 4 dating apps for the younger age bracket are free apps
• Only 1 of the top 4 dating apps for the age bracket are free apps
• Those reporting using no dating app increases as age increases from 47% up to 88%

In the age bracket, it’s no surprise (at least to us) to see Tinder atop the list. The stigma with Tinder is that it’s just for flings and less serious relationships, and this tends to fit with the outlook of a lot of younger daters. On an anecdotal level, though, we do know a lot of people that have met their future spouse of Tinder so please don’t let us ruin it for those of you looking for something a bit more serious.

You’ll also notice that three of the top four dating apps listed here for the youngest age bracket are predominantly free. This may have to do with the economic situation of younger daters, but in our opinion you are always going to get what you pay for.

www.chevaliercompetences.fr is at the top for the age bracket, the age bracket, and the age bracket. What does this online dating statistic mean for you? If you’re over the age of 30 and under the age of 64 looking for love online, www.chevaliercompetences.fr just might be a good fit for you. Remember from our earlier section as well, an equal percentage of both men and women find www.chevaliercompetences.fr to be their favorite online dating app.

We see a small rise in religious dating site usage between the age bracket and the age bracket where it levels off around %. Also, do keep in mind that while % might seem small, this still represents millions and millions of people. So, if you’re looking to get started with a religious dating site, you still should have plenty of great singles to choose from.

Meeting a Match in Person by Gender and Age

Curious what the online dating statistics say about who has actually met someone they met online in person? Are people actually getting out from behind the computer and meeting in person or is online dating just a big waste of time? And if they are, is it more men or women? Let’s take a look at the answers to all these questions thanks to online dating statistics.

Let’s break down what we’re seeing in these online dating statistics. The biggest difference in percentage is between men and women who say they have met an online dating match in person for a hookup. 20% of men say they did, while only 8% of women say they did.

This could mean that more men online are looking for sexual encounters, but it probably is also slightly skewed because this study was self-reporting. Some women might have been hesitant to report their true intentions due to societal double standards.

Here’s the silver lining in all of these dating statistics for those of you looking for something a little. For both genders, over 50% of people had met someone in person for either a long-term relationship or at least a date or more than one date. There’s a floating stigma out there that online dating is only a place for hookups and nothing more.

Well, thanks to online dating statistics and cold hard facts, we can show that is just not the case. Are there people out there only looking for hookups? Probably. But it is not an overwhelming majority like most people tend to believe that it is.

Online dating is a much safer and more productive space than a lot of people give it credit for, and here are the dating statistics to back that up.

Online Dating App Users Who Have Met in Person by Age Group

There are a lot of interesting conclusions that can be drawn from this data set of online dating statistics. As we increase in the age groups, the number of daters meeting for a hookup drops by almost 10% total through the age brackets.

As you get older in the age brackets, the statistics show the number of dating app users that are meeting in person for a long-term relationship or one or more dates increases as well. We do see a drop in those meeting for just dates from 35% to 29% from the age bracket to the age bracket.

What Are Online Daters Looking For?

Are online singles looking for love? Hookups? Both? One of the most asked questions about online dating is exactly what online daters are looking for. If you ask anyone, they’re most likely just going to give you anecdotal evidence based on their personal choices and experiences. This really isn’t going to do you much good.

But, when you pour through the online dating statistics, you can learn quite a bit about what most people online are looking for. Let’s take a look at some of the most important statistics starting with the big picture first.

• 84% of online daters are looking for a romantic relationship, 24% a sexual relationship

In a recent survey of a group of online singles, statistics show that 84% of daters are looking for some form of a romantic relationship and 24% are looking for a sexual relationship. Now, for all of our math superstars out there, you’re probably noticing that 84% + 24% = %. Don’t worry; the data is accurate. What this is showing is that some people are looking for both a romantic relationship and also a sexual relationship.

The Full Breakdown of What Online Singles Are Searching For

• 61% of daters use an online dating app to meet people that shares common interests
• 44% of daters use an online dating app to meet someone who shares their values and beliefs
• 42% of daters use an online dating app to meet someone for marriage
• 26% of daters use an online dating app to meet someone to just have non-committal fun
• 21% of daters use an online dating app to meet someone because they have a challenging schedule

There’s a lot for us to digest here, so let’s start with some of the most important online dating statistics. 42% of people dating online are using a dating app to try and find someone to marry. That’s probably surprising to a lot of people as there seems to be a stigma that no one online is looking for anything serious. Clearly, though, that is incorrect and the data proves it. Almost half of the people using online dating apps are looking for something that ends with a ring.

What’s also interesting to us is the second listed dating statistic that 44% of daters using an online dating app are looking for someone who shares their values and beliefs. Those 44% of people make sense to us.

What seems a little crazy is that means that 56% of people that are dating online are not worried about finding someone who has the same values and beliefs as them. This probably makes since with those people who are looking for sexual relationships only, but we know from an earlier statistics that is only 24% of people.

That means another 20% of people are looking for something else but they don’t seem to care about their mates values and beliefs. We’re not here to judge, but we feel like that really should be an important criteria to look for in a partner.

Online Dating Truthfulness, Negative Experiences, and Match Familiarity

With the rise of catfishing, one of the biggest fears a lot of singles looking to get into online dating have is whether the people they are talking to are being truthful. The problem is that a lack of truthfulness and sketchy people can lead to some negative experiences that might just be uncomfortable or might actually be a safety risk.

Let’s take a look at the online dating statistics you need to know about truthfulness, negative experiences, and how familiar people are with matches before they meet.

Percentage of Daters Who Claim to Present Themselves as Truthful in Their Dating Profile

The good news here is that 98% of people claim to be % truthful or at least mostly truthful when dating online. Only % claim to be lying or untruthful often or always. Our guess is that those that claim to be truthful often are probably telling the truth about major things and fibbing about little things. Still, we’re big fans of always telling the truth when it comes to online dating (or anything), but we can’t control people.

Online Dating Negative Encounters by Age and Gender

One of the biggest fears that singles who are new to online dating have is having a bad experience. This could be feeling uncomfortable, getting an unsolicited naked picture, having legit concerns for your safety, having to block someone, or getting the full on catfish experience.

But, just how common is all of this? Let’s take a look at the statistics. The first chart will show you the different negative encounters by age, and then below that we break everything down by gender.

Contacted in a way that made them uncomfortable

Male – 25%

Female – 42%

Received unwanted inappropriate pictures

Male – 20%

Female – 32%

Fears about safety

Male – 26%

Female – 32%

Needed to block or report someone

Male – 23%

Female – 39%

Been catfished

Male – 38%

Female – 30%

Familiarity With an Online Dating Match Before Meeting in Person

Some of you out there might be curious if the singles that had bad online dating experiences did their homework first before meeting someone. Or, did they just randomly meet someone they knew nothing about? Well, let’s take a look at the dating statistics.

The chart below shows exactly how familiar online daters got with a match before meeting them in person. Surprisingly, the biggest number we see is 29% of people met someone right away without knowing anything about them.

This might be why a lot of people had some bad experiences. Thankfully, the close second at 28% are people who at least got to know the person a little bit better by sharing basic information.

We’d really have like to see more than 15% of people getting to know someone on a personal level before meeting (for safety reasons), but again, everyone is different and some people just prefer to get to know each other in person.

Final Thoughts

It&#;s crazy to see what we perceive things to be and what is actually happening when you dive into the statistics. Our minds can trick us into believing things are a certain way, when in actuality they are quite different. Hopefully, these online dating statistics can help you to better understand the landscape out there and better help you to find that special someone you&#;re looking for. Happy fishing, friends!