Thursday, January 28, 2010
Although Amanda Heather had done this before, she was beginning to get cold feet about her first date with J.L. She had spent a month talking to him through e-mails and over the phone, but was beginning to fear J.L. wouldn’t be the guy she fell for on the internet. She still thought that at age 22, she could meet a guy as good as J.L. in a more conventional way.
Statistics of singles
Eighty-three million Americans between the ages of 19 and 45 are singles and 40 million of them use online dating services.
Fourty-four percent of the adult American population is single. That’s more than 100 million people, making your odds much better than you think.
On average, there are 86 single men to every 100 single women in America. So, the odds are slightly in favor of men finding a mate.
Only 2 percent of men find relationships from a barstool. This number only goes up to 9 percent for women.
The online dating industry generates $1.8 billion in revenue annually and the dating coach/matchmaker industry generates $260 million
Source: Online News
Online dating is a phenomenon that has been around since at least 1995, the year Match.com made its debut. When the trend started, older singles seemed to be the target market for the site. However, 15 years later, the popularity of online dating is steadily increasing nationwide for all ages thanks to the increased role of social networking.
Although young singles such as Heather, 2006 graduate, sometimes feel they shouldn’t need online dating, the fact is that through social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, the college-aged generation is becoming more prone to using the internet to connect with people.
In a study done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in December 2009, 93 percent of the 18-29-year-old group was reported as internet users. The study also showed that younger adults age 18-24 make up 28 percent of the entire social networking population.
According to Laurie Davis, host of LoveNation, a weekly web show that covers emerging trends in the dating world, social networking and new technology are allowing more people to be digitally connected romantically through a process she terms as “micro-dating.”
“Micro-dating and mobile dating are allowing younger singles to connect faster and more deliberately than the more traditional styles of dating,” Davis says. “Online dating applications are being added directly to social networking sites to appeal to more young adults.”
Zoosk.com is one of the many companies doing just this, creating a paradigm in online dating. By allowing singles to connect through a site such as Facebook, the founders of Zoosk.com hope to make the online dating process effortless by incorporating it with an everyday activity.
“We cater to an audience so that they don’t have to actively think about dating,” says Alex Mehr, co-founder of Zoosk.com. “As a result, we integrate online dating into social networking.”
Cell phone applications for online dating are also becoming popular. Skout is an iPhone app that uses the iPhone’s GPS to offer a real-time location-based service for online daters. With this app, a single could view profiles based on location. This allows singles to reach out to people at the same bar as them with less anxiety.
The truth of the matter is that social networking is becoming the new face of how young adults are meeting for friendship, love and even sex. Social networking users are becoming much more relaxed about uploading information and photos onto the web and as a result, creating more couples.
After meeting J.L. though an online dating site when she was a senior in 2006, Heather dated him for a year, married him five months later and they’ve been together ever since.
Think before you tweet
Social networking sites can provide too much personal information for others.
Sororities warn members of online impersonators
Male impersonators targeting sorority Facebook groups act as actual members.
Dating.com
Virtual Love
College students are growing users of online dating services.
Cheating loves in the 21st century
A battle of lust, love and loyalty in defining cheating.
Secretive online group causes mischief
“Anonymous” user tampers with Kansan.com poll.
Status update
Facebook changes the relationship dynamic.
Online lovin’: click your pick
Making connections online
Online and mobile dating are effective ways to meet someone.
Social media club broadens students' horizons
New social media group starts on campus.
In 140 characters or less
The simplistically designed social medium Twitter answers more questions than, ‘What are ...
Facebook drama
Why we act and interact online.
Going the distance
Video chatting helps students network and even apply for jobs.
Jayhawks are flocking to Twitter
KU groups on Twitter include coalitions, museums, Underground.
Our electronic addiction
When did digital communication get so controversial and why are we so ...
Users abuse Facebook
New Web site tries to attract college ...
College.com, a Web site that started earlier this month, is trying to ...
Make me a match
Finding a date and eventual mate is as easy as jumping into ...
Buser: Don’t blame Facebook: Narcissism is old ...
Social networking sites not to blame for Generation Y selfishness.
University changes to new, more secure wireless ...
Before using the new network, all users need to reconfigure their wireless ...
Opportunity calls
How to get the most out of your internship.
Following has never been so easy
A picture really is worth 1,000 words.
Keeping up appearances
Fancy cremes and badger brushes—it’s not always easy preservin’ your sexy.
Site offers relationship gossip
Students can find information about others’ love lives on the newly launched ...
Bornstein: Don’t be afraid to be bi-curious
Experimenting with the same sex can be easy with a little networking.
Tomorrow's news
FlyTunes
Search engine reflects online activity
OneRiot.com aims to target college students by providing instant feedback from its ...
Web site provides love advice from peers
Sidetaker.com allows people to post relationship problems online and to seek answers.
Occupy movement gains local support
Occupy Lawrence demonstrators set up a permanent camp downtown for rally organization.
Sell yourself
Landing a job takes more than a crisp resume and friendly smile.
Google picks Kansas City for ultra-fast network
Google said its new broadband network will make Internet access 100 times ...
Katz: Self-imposed target
Willingness to dish out personal information helps advertisers zone in on customers.
Identity fraud, viruses prompt on-campus improvements
Millions of American adults are victims of identity fraud every year, and ...
College students join ranks of online dating ...
Some students say online profiles allow them to save time by eliminating ...
Getting your game on
How to keep your relationship from becoming a real-life version of Mortal ...
Students follow national voting trend
Candidates uses social networks to reach out to the youth vote
Be back soon
3G network hits local service providers
Lawrence customers should notice faster Internet on their wireless phones, but speedier ...
Keeping the Faith
Practicing religion while in college.
For Pain or for Party
The highs and lows of prescription painkillers and sedatives
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
The modern love connection
I honestly prefer good'ol social interaction. Its all about the " Hunt ", being out there. Meeting people talking to them, just like nature intended. What are you going to tell your kids? " I met you mom on Match.com soon as I saw her pic I knew she was gonna be mine ".
I'm sorry but I'd rather say something along the way " your mom bought me a shot from across the bar and I've been with her ever since " I'm not putting down the people that do subscribe to that method, as we do have a lot of people out there with social disorders. ...My 2 cents
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID