Online Dating vs. Traditional Dating
Is online dating beating the “old-fashioned” traditional dating now? Which method really is the better choice? Online dating continuously becoming prevalent and more popular to the society, although, other people may have had some bad experiences from it, still it remains on the rise (Ali, Wibowo 1). On the other hand, many people still support traditional dating as a healthy way to find a partner and begin in a life together. While there are different ideas as to whether traditional dating or online is more effective, it is important to recognize their advantage and disadvantages. There are online dating pros and cons as well as in traditional dating, but yet, internet dating was found more successful in establishing new intimate personal relationships.
There are some pros and cons when it comes to online dating. One of the pros of online dating is convenience, wherein you can easily find a date through different internet dating sites and is available 24/7. There is no pressure in meeting new people online that comes often with traditional dating on the first date. Another thing is possibly finding someone with similar interests and can easily determine their compatibilities on each other. In addition, there were a lot of successful stories in relationships that started on internet dating. On the other hand, most people are dishonest on dating sites. In fact, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cornell University found that 80% of online daters lie about their height, weight, or age. Singles get frustrated after a few bad dates when their profile don’t turn out to be as what they expected. Many sites online provide matching tools and send you emails of suggested matches to make it easier for you to view potential dates, but many singles limit their new search criteria to height, zip code, or income and can miss the opportunity to meet a compatible match. Crowding can also be a problem because the crowdedness of some sites can make it difficult to find a potential partner and can sometimes be exhausting or overwhelming browsing through all of those profiles.
Traditional dating has been around for hundreds of years but still has some pros and cons. One of the pros of face-to-face dating is, you can determine if there is an instant chemistry with the person you meet right away versus if you’re interacting with them through the internet. Second, being set up by a friend can make it easier to break the ice. According to Wikibooks.org, about 35-40%, friends are the primary introducers to their date and that could make them more comfortable, allowing a sense of familiarity and common interest to make it easier to connect without awkwardness. In addition to the pros, is no misrepresentation, which means it’s harder for people to lie because you can immediately ask them questions and see their body gestures and facial expressions as you interact with them. Not only there are pros in traditional dating, but cons as well. First, is constant socializing, going frequently to bars and other social public gatherings in order to mingle with other singles. This can be difficult when we always have a busy schedule. Limitations is another disadvantage in traditional dating, meaning you’re limited to your own area that makes it harder to expand your physical boundaries. Lastly, traditional dating puts more pressure on you to be funny and charming on your first meeting and don’t know what to talk about on the first date.
Internet dating was found more successful in establishing a new intimate personal relationships because 20% of relationships that started online had worked. There were increasing number of success stories of couples who had met and married through online dating. According to one longitudinal study, couples who meet online tend to get married much sooner (www.sociologicalscience.com) in their relationships than couples who meet offline. In 2017, online dating became the most common way for newly weds to meet one another. The Knot surveyed more than 14,000 engaged or recently married individuals and reported that 19% of brides said they met their spouses online. Plus, when the University of Chicago surveyed nearly 20,000 people between 2005 and 2012, researchers concluded that those who met their spouses online expressed more marital satisfaction (www.pnas.org) than those who met their spouses through more traditional avenues offline. And according to the Pew Research Center, 79% of online daters agree that online dating is a good way to meet people, and 70% of them agree that it helps people find a better romantic match because they have access to a wide range of potential partners.
In conclusion, people who chooses either traditional dating or online dating often believe that one method is significantly better than the other. In reality, it’s impossible to designate one as being more successful than the other because each person is different in their relationship goals. Despite ideas that one method must be better that the other, the truth is that, the success of either method depends on each individual person and what best suits them. But for me, with the increasing success stories of happy couple that met online, I definitely choose online dating because I for one, had found success in establishing my intimate personal relationship with my love one from the internet. Online dating, is therefore, often a stepping stone to getting you out into the real world.