BBC – Cheating, ghosting and swiping – online dating brings out the worst in many people. "The screen mediates our courage, so we will do and say things online that we would never do in real life," says Dr Joanne Orlando, an Australia-based researcher and author who focuses on digital wellness. Dana Weiser, an associate professor at Texas Tech University, began collecting data from 550 undergraduate students about infidelity on Tinder, which was published in a 2018 study. 64% reported seeing someone on Tinder whom they knew to be in an exclusive relationship, 17% of the study's participants themselves admitted to messaging someone on Tinder while in a relationship, and 7% said they'd had a sexual experience with someone they met on Tinder while dating someone else. A 2016 survey by Plenty of Fish showed 80% of respondents between 18 and 33 years old reported having at least one relationship end via ghosting. 35% of respondents to the 2020 Pew Research Center study reported someone had sent them an "explicit message or image they didn't ask for" on a dating app, and that number rose to 57% among female users aged 18 to 34.
Category: All Internet Dating Statistics
‘Single Shaming’: Why People Judge Singles
BBC – Asking why someone is 'still' single and assuring them they'll 'find their person soon' may seem like thoughtful, even sensitive, ways to check in on single friends. However, these simple phrases constitute 'single shaming' – and they're likely to be more harmful than helpful. Data from a survey by dating service Match, shows 52% of 1K single UK adults reported experiencing single shaming "since the start of the pandemic", likely due to the increased focus on whom people could rely on during lockdowns. And even though 59% said they were "content with their relationship status", they still were the target of intrusive questions. Match asked about the common "shaming phrases" single people have heard from others, and 35% said they were told "you'll find someone soon". 29% heard "you must be so lonely", while 38% reported general pity over their relationship status. Bumble's research from October 2021, showed that 53% of Bumble users surveyed "realized that it's okay to be alone for a while", thanks to the pandemic.
Dating Apps Accused of Ignoring Sexual Assault
BBC – The number of reported sexual offences linked to dating apps doubled between 2017 and 2020. Young people from across the UK have told BBC Three that their reports of sexual assault and harassment were ignored by dating apps. A survey carried out for new BBC Three documentary Dating's Dangerous Secrets, suggests a quarter of people who have used dating platforms in the last four years experienced sexual assault while on a date, whilst a third said they experienced harassment or abuse on a dating app. Of those who said they'd reported someone to the service, almost half said they were dissatisfied with the dating platform's response. Many of the free dating apps and platforms do not carry out mandatory identity verification, meaning anyone with a phone number and email address can sign up to their services. Tinder announced last year that they would roll out the option to verify your account on the platform, but this is currently still voluntary.
Study Finds Aussie Dating App Users Warming to Video Chats & VR Interactions
B&T MAGAZINE – US video-based human insights firm UserTesting recently captured the reactions of men and women in Australia and other APAC countries about video chatting and virtual reality interactions on dating apps. While video chatting emerged as the most popular trend amongst young people, concepts such as "dating in metaverse" were commonly perceived as highly futuristic, niche, and appealing. 80% reported their openness to try new formats of dating such as metaverse. However, a few also expressed concern on the lack of clarity about the functioning of a metaverse.
The Global User Expenditure of Dating Apps Exceeded $4.2B in 2021
EQUALOCEAN – According to the mobile 2022 status report of APP Annie, the global user expenditure of dating apps exceeded $4.2B in 2021, an increase of 95% YOY compared with 2018 and 30% YOY compared with 2020. Tinder is still the global market leader. Its user expenditure reached a record $1.35B in 2021.
Pandemic and Crypto Fuel Increase in Romance Scams
WALL STREET JOURNAL – The number of romance-related frauds reported to the FTC rose ~70% in 2021, and the total amount lost jumped to $547M. The pandemic may have fueled the continued growth of romance scams as the coronavirus has provided a convenient excuse for scammers to say they aren't able to meet in person. Last year also saw scammers increasingly using romance as a hook to lure people into bogus investments, particularly those involving cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency was the top method that victims used to make payments in 2021, at ~$139M. That is nearly five times the cryptocurrency amount reported in 2020 and more than 25 times that in 2019, the FTC said. In comparison, ~ $121M was lost through bank transfers or payments and another $93M through wire transfers in 2021, FTC data shows.
Valentine’s Day Poll: 86% of Americans Believe in True Love
THE HILL – A CBS News/YouGov survey asked Americans varying questions about their love lives and found most Americans believe true love really exists, at 86%, while 67% said they themselves had experienced true love. Match.com conducted its annual Singles in America study which revealed what Americans are looking for in a partner, with 84% saying they want someone they can trust and confide in and someone they can communicate their wants and needs to. 78% wanted someone physically attractive in 2021, compared to 90% in 2020.
Usage of Top Dating Apps Grew 20% YoY in January
IANS – The monthly active users of Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge collectively grew 17% in January 2022, when compared to January 2019, globally. According to Sensor Tower, Tinder has maintained its majority market share among top dating apps in the US for the last five years. From January 2019 through January 2022, Bumble and Hinge's monthly active users reached a fraction of Tinder's, however, their user bases have grown over that time.
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~40% of People Looking for Love Online Were Asked for Money
ONLINE DATING ASSOCIATION – Two in five people (38%) who dated someone they met online were asked for money. 57% of those who were asked for money said that they gave it or lent it The average amount of money people were asked for was £345, although some were asked for ~£1000 (6%). In the first half of 2021 alone ~£15M was lost to these sort of romance scams.
1 in 7 Online Daters Have Paid for Background Checks on Dating Matches
See full article at PR Newswire
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