This week, I decided to delve into the ever so popular topic of online dating. I wanted to know if this “hook-up” culture that is often referenced in our society, and if it’s actually happening as much as it is discussed. I was also curious whether advances in technology could be the result of changes in the dating game. So what is the online dating scene like, both for millennial as well as long-term online dating users?

Among the most popular and heard about dating sites include eHarmony, Match.com, Tinder, Bumble, and OkCupid. Eharmony first appeared in 1997 by psychologist Dr. Neil Clark Warren. Warren’s has spent 35 years practicing and counseling thousands of married couples. Match.com originated in 1995, serving as one of the first major online dating sites for over 20 years. This site also paves the way for new online dating platforms in a way. According to Match.com, 44% of adult Americans are still single and 40 million Americans use online dating services. These statistics are drawn by Match from the U.S. census.

The infamous Tinder first arrived on the scene in the spring of 2012, successfully taking on a new generation of online dating, so to speak. But is it just a hookup site, or is it evolving since its initial launch? It is this question that I will explore in my research of online dating. Although OkCupid has been a part of the online dating sphere since 2004, there is only an estimate amount of 1 million active users from the site. There are also no age brackets. A 50 year old can message a 20 year old. It doesn’t allow the user to choose their age of interest. 

Bumble, despite it’s some-what recent launch in December 2014, has surmounted over three million active users reported in March 2016. The starts of Bumble’s creation is a result of Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe, who decided to leave the company. Wolfe’s charged her boyfriend and co-founder of Tinder, Justin Mateen, with sexual harassment. Bumble presents a new, feminist approach to dating, allowing the woman to make the first move. Only women can send the first message. The platform consists of different facets for different relationships. It offers different features that enable users to engage in their choice of relationship, whether it’s romanic or friendship based. The company is also looking to encompass the LGBTQ community, but has yet to do so.

OkCupid released the ‘Identity’ project, motivating users to start discussions in relation to gender and sexual orientation. However, this seems to be the extent of the involvement of the LGBTQ community within these dating sites. None of these forms of online dating has seemed to make any notion or movement to accommodate individuals with gender identities outside the gender binary. Nor does it acknowledge the diverse range of sexual orientations. It isn’t as simple as having an attraction to “men” or “women” or “both.” 

Recently I joined Tinder, partly for the purpose of writing this article, partly out of curiosity. And partly because as a single person, Netflix can only entertain me so much. In my case, the simple swipe of a button based largely off of appearances heightens expectations. It also limits those you would otherwise consider if you had met for the first time face-to-face. However, such sites and apps give singles a direct road that surpasses two of the biggest questions when it comes to dating. Those questions are: are you single and do you have an interest in that person.

Yet, reports show that in 2016, that only 13% of Tinder users claimed relationships lasting longer than a month. These statistics stand, despite Tinder obtaining 9.6 million daily active viewers reported in 2015. This report also states that 20% of Tinder users are using the app for a hook-up. Those looking for a hook-up is split almost half and half with 27% of users are looking for a significant other. And a whopping 53% of users are using Tinder to find friends. 

According to OkCupid statistics in a report published by datingsitesreviews.com, monogamy reports from users of the app have decreased by 12% since 2010. 

So is this new generation of online dating really as successful as it was in the 90s? It doesn’t appear to be that way. Based off of this research, it seems that it is simply the “hook-up” generation that has taken hold through these new platforms.