TIMES OF INDIA
The dating world has seen a sea change in the past century. While at the beginning of the 1930s, couples met through family, friends, school and other social settings, over a few decades, the workplace or an eatery became a preferred place for meeting and connecting with each other. The 1990s saw a major shift in the way people found their partners as the internet made it more convenient for people to connect with each other.
Content expert James Eagle shared a fascinating animated chart on LinkedIn that captures almost a century of dating and how people met their partners from 1930-2024, offering an insight into how the advent of the internet changed the way people found their partners. From relying on their families, friends, or meeting in offline settings like a restaurant or church, people eventually shifted to dating websites to find their spouses. The analysis was done by Stanford University through an extensive survey, published in the journal PNAS. It showed how online dating displaced other ways of meeting.
“How did you meet your spouse? Times have changed and this #datavisualisation shows just how much this is true. We have shifted away from traditions, where we were once introduced by friends and family, or married our high school sweethearts. It seems the internet has even disrupted our love lives,” wrote Eagle.
This is amazing. How couples met from 1930 to 2024.
How did you meet your significant other?
— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) December 15, 2024
Since 1995, with the advent of the internet and the launch of popular web browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer, online dating has grown rapidly. More couples have been meeting online since, especially as smartphones and apps like Tinder and Grindr became popular, as per the analysis.
As the years passed, fewer couples are being introduced through friends or family. In 2009, 11.2% of couples who met online had a third-party introduction, but by 2017, this dropped to just 3.7%. Instead, most couples (89.5% in 2017) were complete strangers before meeting online.
This shift clearly shows how technology is reducing the role of friends and family in matchmaking. This is allowing people to connect with others directly through online platforms.
From 1930 to 2013, Americans met their romantic partners through friends and family. However, the rise of the Internet, particularly from the mid-1990s, changed this. A 2017 study showed that online dating has continued to grow, overtaking friends as the most common way for couples to meet.
Dating websites significantly reduced the need for friends and family to connect couples due to the convenience they offer.
“Disturbing that online has replaced everything else to the detriment of society. It seems like going out and meeting someone is not an option,” wrote a user.
“I think you still need to go and meet the person you meet online, but the same time it’s so much easier now to find that person than it was before. The other problem though is that you can have a bit of a false persona online that doesn’t reflect how you are in real life. So in a way it could be dangerous to rely too much on online dating.
I also think that people don’t give others a chance in real life nowadays because it’s so easy to meet people online. I think that’s a shame really. I also find that people tend to treat relationships very formulaically, and based their perception who is right for them on a person social status and salary, and whether or not they fit in with their lifestyle.
There’s no longer any compromise anymore. I think this is a shame because in real life, true love is so unpredictable and it’s not something that you can categorise and filter,” replied Eagle.
“Interesting shift! Meeting online can be a good initial filter, followed by spending time in person getting to know each other. If I had a daughter, I would wish two things for her: 1. Find her Prince/right person, without wasting time kissing too many frogs, in hope of turning them into a Prince. 2. His family loves her just as much as she loves their son,” wrote another user.
“That’s really wise advice and I think it is good to not get too emotionally caught up in any relationship without seeing what it really is. It can be really toxic otherwise,” replied Eagle.
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN TIMES OF INDIA
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