Dating Is Not Dead, Says HowAboutWe Report

ut

The dating world may have changed considerably, but dating is far from dead, says a new report by HowAboutWe.

Their report states that while technological advances and the seemingly burgeoning “hook-up” culture make it seem like more conventional dating is on its way out, the opposite is true.

It says that while the modes in which dates are arranged have undoubtably changed, the fact is that more people are going on dates than ever before.

Here are some findings of the report:

People are dating more:

• 47% of singles (25.4m people) between 18-44 said they are dating more now than they were five years ago.

Online dating is used by the majority:

• Of the 54m singles in the US, nearly 74% have tried online dating.
• No surprise then that the industry is worth $2bn in the US alone.​

More dating is beneficial: 

• The report also states that the median age of first marriages in the US has increased from 26.8 years to 28.2 among men, and from 25.1 years to 26.1 among women. 
• This increase in years spent single, and therefore dating more, runs parallel with figures that show a decrease in the number of divorces.
• In 2000 there were 944,000 divorces, in 2011 there were 877,000.​

It has become time-consuming: 

• A national survey stated that for 50% of dating site users, it took a minimum of three weeks to go on a first date.

This criticism has been seen a lot recently, with sites like HowAboutWe and Justaskmeout offering services which bypass the often time-consuming emailing and profile vetting.

The huge popularity of “hook-up” apps like Tinder could also be seen as a growing disenchantment towards the “old model” dating sites – the key to Tinder’s success lies with its easy set-up and minimalist, quick-fire service.

HowAboutWe is a site which offers a throwback to the more traditional dating style, by letting users propose an interesting idea for a first date.

They say they want to make people spend less time online, and more time getting to know each other on dates.

The company also launched a Couples product in January, which offers hand-picked date deals for those who are already dating.

It is one of the first sites to offer a model for what dating sites can do once their users have found love.

Read the full report at HowAboutWe here.