1. Is Internet dating changing society?
What was the rule you absolutely, under any circumstances never broke as a child?
„Don‟t talk to strangers‟, right?
The rule that mum and dad drummed into your head so many times it was enough for you to
never want to meet any new person, just in case they might bundle you into the back of the
car or offer you a lollipop like the child-catcher on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
However the whole concept of „talking to a stranger‟ has mind-blowingly been flung out the
window with online dating.
Isn‟t it things like dating apps that we were always told to avoid. According to recent
statistics, one in five relationships in the UK now start online and over 9 million of us are
registered with a site.
Since the internet expanded in the 1980s, it has required the participation of consumers to
thrive. Match.com was founded in 1993 by Gary Kremen, the site went live in 1995 and gave
the initial users free memberships for life, allowing them to create a database.
In 2012, it announced Stir, a service that brings Match.com members together in thousands
of events across the country, ranging from bowling nights to cookery classes to allow people
to get to know each other in natural environments.
Well at least by using Stir you wasn‟t meeting up with strangers in a park, but without
screening members‟ backgrounds, how can we actually be sure who we are meeting? For a
sight that has over 20 million members operating in 25 different countries around the world,
it doesadvise those using the service to take safety precautions such as meeting for the first
date in a public place, staying sober and leaving details of the date with family members or
friends (cited by MacAskill, 2011).
But isn‟t this common sense in general? Is the combination of the increasing technology of
the internet and first time date jitters making our minds spiral out of control?

2. Introducing Tinder, a dating app that not only finds your location via GPS but connects with
your Facebook profile, distributing all of your personal information.“If they take your fancy,
you swipe right to 'like' them. If not, go left to 'pass'. If they‟ve also 'liked' you – bingo. It‟s a
match and you can start messaging” (Newall, 2014, Marie Claire). Woohoonow I can
message a total stranger that I know lives in close proximity with me and knows all my other
personal information?
But it works,the latest figures reveal that 5.7 million people visit dating sites every month
and now globally one in five relationships start online. The online dating industry is seen as
such an asset has been added to the UK economy‟s „basket of goods‟ (Moore, 2014). However
researchers have come across the „hyperpersonal effect.‟Specifying hair and eye colour as
well as body type,this creates intimate reactions when you‟ve only briefly interacted online. It
then builds up your idealised version of this potential lover, causing disappointment within
your match (Conger, 2011).
„We're definitely in a new era of the mating game‟ according to researchers (Brooks, 2011) as
physical attribute selection tools allow dating site users to eliminate huge groups of the
population who don't meet specific desires.
So the internet in our eyes is supposed to create our perfect lover, but is its lack of
authenticity just making us extra picky when it comes to dating?
„Partner selection pickiness will probably increase further over time, causing us to reject
potential love interests‟ (Brook, 2011) but what people think they want may not be what they
actually need due to the lack of authenticity people present online.
The founders of OkCupid, who have maths backgrounds, have been collecting data for
almost a decade on how online daters interact with each other. According to their research,
women that some men may find unattractive, actually prove more suggestible to other men
because there is less competition.
Hannah Fry, of Youtube channel Head Squeeze, claims this makes sense if you take game
theory into consideration. „The people sending these messages are thinking about their own
chances,‟ she says. „As well as intimidating the opposite sex, obviously attractive people are
often given lower scores.‟
Singles are using internet dating as a virtual shopping extravaganza with the help of new
technology enabling us to transform ourselves in order to get a swipe to the right rather than

3. a swipe to the left on Tinder. Photoshop and editing software on Instagram, not only makes
us look like we‟ve just walked off the cover of Elle magazine but could also be having the
opposite effect. So if you want to find a partner online, don‟t bother with the edited selfie,
men prefer the „0 natural‟ look apparently. Oh, and make sure you stay sober…
Word count: 798
References:
Conger, C (2011) 5 Fundamental Truths of Online Dating [www] available
from:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristen-conger/online-dating-facts_b_823816.html
(accessed 12/03/2014).
MacAskill, E. (2011) Match.com to begin screening for sexual offenders following rape
claim [www] available from: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/apr/19/match-
com-screening-sexual-offenders (accessed 12/03/2014).
Moore, S. (2014) Online dating scams: how to spot fraudsters and protect yourself[www]
available from: http://money.aol.co.uk/2014/02/14/online-dating-scams-how-to-spot-
fraudsters/ (accessed 12/03/2014).
Newall, S. (2014) Tinder: The Dating App EVERYONE's Talking About[www] available
from: http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/543941/tinder-the-online-dating-app-that-
everyone-s-talking-about.html (accessed 12/03/2014).
Zolfagharifard, E. (2014) Online dating not working out? Maybe you’re too GOOD-
LOOKING: Ugly people are MORE likely to get attention on websites [www] available from:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2577496/Online-dating-not-working-
Youre-probably-GOOD-LOOKING-Ugly-people-MORE-likely-attention-websites.html
(accessed 12/03/2014),
Brook, M. (2011) How has Internet dating changed society? An Insider’s Look[www]
available from: http://www.onlinepersonalswatch.com/files/idea-white-paper-final-review-
copy-only-updated-1-19-2.pdf (accessed 27/03/2014)