Online dating: More people are doing it, but no one wants to talk about it. On the record, that is.
A recent Pew study found 11 percent of American adults have used online dating sites or mobile apps — a figure that was just 3 percent five years ago. Among Internet users who were currently single and looking for a partner, 38 percent had tried online dating.
Yet, according to the Pew study, 21 percent of Internet users agree with the statement: “People who use online dating sites are desperate.” Pew notes that’s an eight-percentage-point decline from 2005. Still, there seems to be lingering judgment about using a smartphone to find someone to love.
“I think people don’t like to admit that they are having trouble in their romantic life,” said Eli Finkel, a social psychology professor at Northwestern University. “That concern is misplaced. It is totally normal to figure out who is compatible for you.”
Finkel, who with colleagues published a critical analysis of online dating last year, has become a cheerleader of sorts for the practice. “In general, it is a great thing that exists.”
Reggie, a 20-something operations manager for a nonprofit organization — who, like all the dating app users we talked to, preferred to give only his first name and occupation as biographical details when talking about the subject — said he tends to keep online dating out of most in-person conversations. Most of his friends do the same.
“We don’t want to put something that is supposed to be like a dating, personal ad into our real world,” he says. “I think that delineation, that separation from online-date persona and in-person social situations, is a real thing.”
He also separates his online dating from his social-media activity. Ben, also working at a nonprofit group, said the relative anonymity of dating websites, where only other members of the sites can see a fellow user’s name and photo, is a benefit. He doesn’t think we’re at a place yet where potential bosses or girlfriends who might search his name on Google would be open-minded about seeing it tied to Tinder.
“More and more people are having those conversations,” he said. “But we’re still not at the point where everyone is comfortable.”
