Compared with eight years ago, online daters in 2013 are more likely to actually go out on dates with the people they meet on these sites.Some 66% of online daters have gone on a date with someone they met through an online dating site or app, up from 43% of online daters who had done so when we first asked this question in 2005.Online dating is also relatively popular among the college-educated, as well as among urban and suburban residents.
Tinder shook up the dating world, known for its long personality quizzes and profile-based matchmaking, with its ego-boosting, hook-up-friendly, mobile flirting app: Two daters are presented with each other’s photos, and if (and only if) they both like what they see and swipe right, the service hooks them up with a chat box, where the daters can take it from there.
After taking off on college campuses, Tinder now boasts 26 million matches a day, and its leaders have invested heavily in maintaining its reputation as a hook-up haven for young people.
With the industry expected to grow by another $100 million every year through 2019, analysts say the dating game is increasingly becoming a battle of the ages, with both sides hoping their age-based gambles yield the most profit from those looking for love.
It’s not clear that the young and perky are the best market for corporate matchmakers.
Two-thirds of the singles and fling-seekers in America’s online-dating market are older than 34, IBISWorld data show.