When I first wrote on the topic of online mating uh…I mean dating, I knew there was a lot more to be said. So, now I’m saying it.
We’ve all heard Al Einstein’s famous and at times, cliché definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. It’s so well ingrained in our psyches because simply put…we know it’s true. Yet, just like in the online dating world, we do exactly that! Over two years ago, since I “stumbled upon” these sites, I was looking for a relationship. A lasting love with an amazing girl. And to this day I still believe that’s what I want! Yet going back and sifting through all the wreckage of letting this girl down, or this one getting away, or feeling ultimately even lonelier than I did before, or getting hurt or hurting, or time after time of anything BUT a meaningful relationship…and I’m STILL hopeful?? I am truly insane.
I look back and wonder how much time I’ve wasted filtering through endless pictures and endless profile write-ups on multiple sites, not to mention all the attempted conversations, as well as the successful conversations which all seem to ultimately end in silence at one point anyway. Back to the insanity verdict!
I came across some online dating statistics that really opened my eyes (as though I needed to know this stuff!).
-match.com has 13 million visitors each month
-eharmony.com has 4.1 million each month
-ourtime.com (a site for those 50 years and over) has 1.4 million visitors per month
And according to Statisticbrain.com….
-Total number of single people in the United States is 54,250,000
-Total number of single Americans who have tried online dating is 41,250,000
-Annual revenue from the online dating industry is 1,249,000,000
-Percentage of marriages birthed on dating sites last year is 17%
-Percentage of current committed relationships from dating sites is 20%
-Percentage of people who say they dated more than one person simultaneously is 53%
There you have it. I feel this cow has been milked. For now.
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