Online Dating Vs Offline Dating; The Pros & Cons

It was twenty years ago the first dating website, match.com, went live, and it’s taken two decades for the owners to only just announce that they would be floating the company on the stock market. While it’s clear that online dating has been around for a while, we are only just seeing a real boom in this industry, and following the success of online dating websites like match.com, there have been various other apps and websites such as Tinder and Urban Social since which all offer something a little different. With the dating industry seemingly only heading one way, we look below at online dating vs. offline dating.

Lovers at sunset

Arne Halvorsen / Via Flickr: arne-halvorsen

You can't beat a traditional date.

What Do the Statistics Say?

There's no denying that we're currently living in a digital world, a world that has seen apps like Tinder claim an impressive number of eight billion connections during its short life. The average Tinder user will now spend 77 minutes a day on the app, an overwhelmingly large figure considering users will only spend around 21 minutes per day on Instagram. One in five relationships within the UK now start online, and at least half of people in America know someone that uses online dating.

Some studies, such as one conducted by eHarmony in their 2015 Relationship Study, found that in Australia 22% of singles have met their partner online, falling just short of the traditional means of meeting through mutual friends (24%). Of the same participants asked, the study also found that 4 in 5 people agree that in some ways it's easier to date online as it's easier to be funny and witty digitally when you have time to think about your response. Who hasn't sought help from friends with the aim of crafting the perfect text message to a potential lover?

While this particular study found that traditional methods were still more commonplace, it's clear that online dating is quickly catching up. Some research from the University of Chicago found that over a third of people who married between 2005 and 2012 met online, which is up 19% from 2008. In the U.S. alone there are almost 50 million individuals who have tried online dating, with this number currently sitting at around 9 million in the UK. Some websites have found that those who start a relationship online are 28% more likely to end within a year, and married couples who were introduced over the internet were three times more likely to get a divorce than those who met in person. This same website found, from a study of 4,000 couples, that those who had entered a relationship via first meeting face-to-face were found to be more stable.

However, over studies have found that this just isn't the case. One study, conducted on a larger scale than the previous with 20,000 participants, found that of those who had met their partner online, they were 25% more likely to last than those who had met via traditional routes. Also, those that did meet via traditional methods reported less satisfaction than those who had met digitally.

Paula Hall, from Relate, said that this is likely to be down to the fact that those who have logged online are "more likely to be based on a shared value system, the same interests, the same legwork as opposed to a relationship based on chemistry alone, which, as we all know, is the quality that tends to fade first in a relationship."

Regardless of the various studies and countering statistics, one thing is certain; it is clear that the online dating industry is now on the rise. In an increasingly busy world, cash-rich, time-poor professionals simply don't have the time to be constantly pursuing traditional means in the hopes of finding the perfect match. Social dating with websites like Urban Social provide an easier alternative to this and allows people to get to know another person much better before even going on that first date.

Is Online Dating Wrong?

There is still a misconception among many that it is wrong to date online, and many still blush when asked the golden question "so where did you two meet?", knowing full well they both met because they happened to swipe right rather than left. While it has become dramatically more socially acceptable in recent years, is online dating still wrong?

People will pay their bills, buy their clothes, book apartments and sometimes even study their degrees online, so why should online dating be any different? Ultimately we take part in these exercises or purchase these things to further us in someway, and we do it online to save us time, so combining dating with this is the obvious next step. 

Dating by candlelight

Roving-Aye! / Via Flickr: vagabondtravels

Nothing beats a candlelit dinner date.

It is a great deal harder to meet your perfect partner through the traditional means; you have to wait patiently and hope for that perfect moment to come along, knowing full well you may be waiting several years. Even then, you may have to wait several years after meeting someone to find out that they aren't quite the person you thought.

Some statistics show that the average length of dating for marriages that met online sits at 18.5 months while this same figure for those marriages that met offline is 42 months. This figure is down to the fact that those who meet online know from the off-set what kind of a match they're going to be when it comes to dating; at least to a greater degree than those who meet offline.

The same statistics show that 71% of people believe in love at first sight, and we all wish that we could have a traditional, romantic, "our eyes locked at a bar" love story, but this isn't always practical in modern society. In 2005 44% of U.S. adults believed that online dating was a good way to meet people; this figure rose to 59% in 2015. But of the same group asked, 23% of Americans agreed with the statement "people who use online dating sites are desperate." So what are the advantages to online dating?

What are the Advantages to Online Dating?

Here are six reasons you should try online dating:

• It's much easier to find the person you're looking for. While we all wish for the perfect love story, it can be tricky to find this story amongst our busy working lives. Online dating, while not quite as romantic, ensures that you can craft the perfect love story for yourself.
• You won't need to worry about making a great first impression. You can build up your profile to look exactly how you want to look, and not have to make your first impression after a busy day at work when you can hardly keep your eyes open!
• You work too hard. More time is now spent working and less time is spent socialising. Online dating gives you the time to meet up with the people you want to in your free time and allows you to connect with these people at any time of day.
• You might find it hard to meet people. While there are many ways to meet people traditionally, it can sometimes be difficult to find the courage to go over and start a conversation, especially if your potential love interest is surrounded by their friends! Online dating takes this problem away.
• Your contact information is kept private. You can use online dating website's dedicated messaging services to message your potential matches, and only have to give out your contact details when you feel ready to.
• It works! We've looked at a number of statistics already in this article and the following infographic found that 17% of those who got married in the US in the last 3 years first met online.

Online dating has seen a remarkable rise in recent years and it's clear that it's only heading one way. While many people do still meet their future partners through traditional means, online dating provides a safe, easy and inexpensive platform to not only save people time but also to help find them the perfect match, thereby ensuring a perfect relationship.