Dating has stood the test of time as a popular means to acclimate with romantic interests, but dating options have transformed dramatically with the advent of digital technology.

Conventionally speaking, individuals would meet in real life and organize a date from there. This traditional approach resonates with conventional dating ideals like love at first sight, where everything we knew about dating once stemmed purely from real-life interactions.

However, the emergence of online dating has transcended the way we perceive romantic endeavors. Whether people are meeting via dating apps, social media, or chat rooms like CMX Chat, in today’s world it is often technology that plays the role of matchmaker. Users can now match with potential love interests from the comfort of their own devices, bringing added convenience and increased options to the fold.

With this being said, let’s take a look at how online dating has changed the way we look for love and will potentially shape future generations:

Dating Methodology: How Did We Get Here?

Online dating has reached a level of popularity that would have once been deemed inconceivable. However, matchmakers have forever held a presence within society, whether it was parents, priests, or friends making introductions among prospective partners who could successfully mate and pass their genes on to future generations.

Before the internet, people relied on natural, authentic settings as a means to finding the right person. Whether introduced through a matchmaker or otherwise, people would actively seek love interests as a huge initiative in their everyday life. During these times, approaching strangers was further within our comfort zone, in environments where you’d either find someone in real life or risk spending your life alone.

With this being said, were we naturally more social creatures during this time since we didn’t rely on technology to meet others?

When the internet rose to prominence, new avenues were created to meet people in online settings. Messaging and chat forum platforms began to grow in popularity, where people were soon able to post personal advertisements on websites like Match. Dating websites like eHarmony would further the prevalence of online dating, where users could answer various questions and match based on compatibility. This pioneered the concept of algorithm-based online dating that’s still used today, a concept that later evolved significantly with smartphone technology.

By leveraging GPS technology, modern dating apps show users based on location and other preferences, meaning you can effortlessly connect with people who live nearby and that you share common ground with.

When first introduced, online dating brought a novelty factor that encouraged modern users to give it a go. Even though traditional dating methods still existed, it was clear we were experiencing a societal shift that would transcend dating forever. But how exactly would this shift be perceived by society?

How Does Society Perceive Online Dating?

The way society views online dating has changed a lot over the years. At the turn of the millennium, there were more negative attitudes towards online dating than there were positive, where the idea of meeting up with someone you’d never met was a near foreign concept.

By 2005, research conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project suggested mixed opinions, where users were split on whether online dating was a good idea or not. It’s important to note that many users were yet to try online dating by this time, however, a negative outlook was on the horizon because online dating was considered taboo.

Fast-forward to today and as of 2019 30% of Americans have used online dating. Not only that, but studies conducted by Pew Research suggest 54% of Americans say relationships that start online are just as successful as those that start conventionally.

Online dating has been heralded as an efficient way to meet new people, especially for those who find it difficult to navigate the daunting nature of the unknown. However, it’s important to note that by confronting situations that feel unnatural we can develop further our development as human beings. If we never escape the confines of our comfort zones we may never quite reach our full potential as social creatures.

Nonetheless, many people now view online dating as a great way to meet sociable people who are low in dating anxiety. This alternate viewpoint rings true in the sense that if you’re confident enough to meet someone you’ve only seen online, you’re more likely to hold a conversation and connect with someone when you meet them.

The view that online daters are somehow more desperate has become a thing of the past since in many you can find more suitable matches through the information you can share about yourself and the ability to filter users on your individual preferences.   

Online Dating – Heaven and Hell?

Before online dating, users were somewhat restricted when it came to meeting others. Besides meeting at work, speculatively in public, or at a pub, there were fewer options at our leisure. Online dating has made it so we can meet anyone in the world without having to lift more than a finger, something that’s created convenience and widened our scope of discovery.

These advantages have catapulted online dating to the forefront, where more people are finding partners online than ever before. However, if online dating is so successful, why are there more single people in the western world than ever before? Perhaps online dating as we know it has reached its pinnacle, with users reporting Tinder fatigue and dating burnout as feelings of discontent.

Despite online dating promoting multiple dating options at any given moment, having so many people to choose from can be a blessing and a curse. Though it can increase your chances of success, the presence of too many options can delay our decision-making processes and lead to increased dissatisfaction with the selections available to us.

We have become spoilt by our options, with unrealistic expectations that can negatively impact our ability to connect with everyday users. Users are becoming increasingly selective over time, where with every photo we observe we become desensitized to the beauty of the person presented to us.

When using online dating, women can afford to be much choosier than men, where an increasing tendency to reject users comes with viewing too many online profiles. Online dating can trigger a rejection mindset, where more options equate to more rejection.

Many people become less confident in their dating success as they encounter more potential online partners online, with a decrease in online dating satisfaction serving as an inevitable outcome. This perspective underlines the paradoxical nature of modern online dating, where an endless pool of partner options and an overwhelming number of choices can make things more difficult.

So what does this say about the future of online dating? Well, clearly still has a place, but we must collectively address our tendency to abuse the technology to avoid undesirable outcomes. Users can benefit significantly from restricting their dating search sessions to a manageable number.

We are not programmed to process too many choices in a single sitting, something that often leads to online daters micro-rejecting potential partners without clear motives. A sensible, moderate consumption of online dating is the best way for society to extract maximum benefit from it.

A new approach would involve looking at no more than five profiles per session, approaching each subsequent profile with a beginner’s mind that isn’t biased by expectations and preconceptions. With a curious mindset that overcomes choice overload, online dating can be utilized as an effective tool for finding romance.

Alternatively, many other online platforms are a great way to introduce yourself to new love interests. For example, online chat rooms like CMX are fantastic for meeting new people from across the globe in real-time. What’s great about meeting through chat rooms is you can build a conversation without any expectations. If you happen to hit it off with someone over time, you can build romantic momentum as you would in real life.

Discover lovers with common interests by exploring the wealth of users on not only chat rooms but across various social media and dating apps.

~cmx