Are Online Daters Doomed?

Did you know that a group of psychology professors did a research on online dating and the success rate of long-term daters? Approximately only .03 percent of daters (roughly 1 couple for every 350 dates) ever make it to 6 months in a relationship.

Of course, adversely people who meet the conventional method (through friends, work, school, etc.) have an incredible 29 percent chance of making it longer than 6 months. This means relationships that start in-person tend to be 1,000 times more successful.

Now, you may be wondering why this is so.

Researchers believe that relationships that start online tend to fail more often than not is because people are more likely to lie, whether it is on their profile or during communications. Because of these lies, people tend to talk to someone who isn’t what they had expected.

But then again, who is to say that when you meet someone the traditional way, they aren’t lying either? There are countless stories of people who live double lives. You could meet a woman at an art gallery and everything she could tell you is a lie. How are you to know?

Another reason why relationships that begin online tend to fail is because they have lofty expectations. Online daters tend to see themselves in a more desirable light than they actually are. For example, people will turn down someone who is their match in every way, except physically. They hold out for people that are gorgeous. The reality of their true attractiveness doesn’t seem to settle in unless they are face to face with someone.

With all of this negativity, you may wonder why anyone would dream of trying online dating. Although online dating does have its draw backs, it also has some perks as well.

For starters, sure, maybe only 1 in 350 dates result in a long-term relationship, but you have the opportunity to meet many more people. Think about it, online, you are able to meet thousands of single people at any single given moment. Because you can meet people faster, you can go on dates faster.

Another perk of online dating is that you can join websites that are designed for specific desires. For example, if you want to date military men, you can try a site designed just for that. If you have a particular hobby you want to enjoy with someone, there are sites for that as well. This weeds out a lot of people and gets you one step closer to your match.

And finally, a study reveals that online daters are more likely to wind up happily married than those who meet the traditional way. So, while you would have to go on 350 dates to find your match, chances are that if you do get married, your marriage has a better chance of being a fulfilling one.

So, while we may hold out for the person who meets ever a requirement, perhaps there is some merit to the madness.