NeetSupremacist
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Around 40% of American couples now first meet online
It is one of the most profound changes in life in the US, and in much of the rich world. Instead of meeting our partners in school, at work, or through friends and family, many of us now meet them online.
Some 39% of heterosexual couples that got together in the US in 2017 met online, according to a recently released study (pdf) by sociologists Michael Rosenfeld and Sonia Hausen of Stanford University and Reuben Thomas of University of New Mexico. This was also the case for more than 60% of same-sex couples that year. That makes online dating by far the most common way that American couples now meet. The data also show that between 1995 to 2017, meeting through friends saw the largest decline, from 33% of couples at the start of the period to just 20% at the end.
“It used to be that finding a partner is something one did with their community,” says Thomas. “Now it is basically an individual quest.” This has also created a $4 billion-plus industry to help people on that quest (paywall). Thomas and his counterparts’ research paper is currently under review for publication in an academic journal.
The data in the study come from the How Couples Meet and Stay Together survey, which is the most comprehensive data collected on romantic relationships in the US. The survey allows for multiple answers to the question about how people met, so a recent rise of people meeting at bars and restaurants is not down to serendipity but rather people who arranged to meet for dinner or a drink via online dating sites.
https://qz.com/1546677/around-40-of-us-couples-now-first-meet-online/
It is one of the most profound changes in life in the US, and in much of the rich world. Instead of meeting our partners in school, at work, or through friends and family, many of us now meet them online.
Some 39% of heterosexual couples that got together in the US in 2017 met online, according to a recently released study (pdf) by sociologists Michael Rosenfeld and Sonia Hausen of Stanford University and Reuben Thomas of University of New Mexico. This was also the case for more than 60% of same-sex couples that year. That makes online dating by far the most common way that American couples now meet. The data also show that between 1995 to 2017, meeting through friends saw the largest decline, from 33% of couples at the start of the period to just 20% at the end.
“It used to be that finding a partner is something one did with their community,” says Thomas. “Now it is basically an individual quest.” This has also created a $4 billion-plus industry to help people on that quest (paywall). Thomas and his counterparts’ research paper is currently under review for publication in an academic journal.
The data in the study come from the How Couples Meet and Stay Together survey, which is the most comprehensive data collected on romantic relationships in the US. The survey allows for multiple answers to the question about how people met, so a recent rise of people meeting at bars and restaurants is not down to serendipity but rather people who arranged to meet for dinner or a drink via online dating sites.
https://qz.com/1546677/around-40-of-us-couples-now-first-meet-online/