Hello,

I am a freelance journalist currently in the process of creating a feature piece on how online dating is becoming a preferred way for younger people (18-25) to find a partner. I was wondering if you have any statistics regarding online dating and the 18-25 demographic to help enhance my feature.

Thanks

Sure I can give you some information on this topic.

In regards to the 18 to 25 demographic I don't have exact numbers to give you but I can make a few educated observations you are more than welcome to use.

As a whole the online dating industry has experienced tremendous growth since it started to become popular in the late 1990s. For the most part (especially in the beginning) online dating has always been more popular with singles aged 25+. The reason for this is, at this point in their lives singles are usually out of school and working for a living. Their social circles have grown smaller and it is harder for them to meet new people. The older you are the more this is a fact, especially for someone divorced or widowed.

With the advent of social networking and sites like Facebook this has changed in the last 7 years or so. Singles of all ages are online more connecting with family and friends. It is a small step now for most from connecting with friends on Facebook, to connecting with other singles on a dating site to create a relationship. Hence online dating has become more popular for all age groups.

What we see now though is online dating has been increasing popular for the 18 to 25 demographic thanks to smartphones and free dating sites like Plenty of fish and OkCupid. Singles under the age of 25 who are going to school do not have a lot of disposable income. Dating sites which offer their features for free (by displaying ads instead) overcome this limitation. Most young adults also have a smartphone and with almost all dating sites now days offering mobile dating applications for Android and the iPhone it is easy for these singles to connect anytime they want and for as long as they want. Plus they can get instant notifications on when someone replies to a message or views their profile which leads to greater use of these dating applications. A lot of the popular dating sites in the past year have seen almost 50% of their members move to using their dating applications instead of the actually dating website.

You can also check out our online dating statistics page for more information.

If you have any more questions please let me know.

This is actually a helpful topic and would serve as a good reference for young people who are looking into this kind of dating. More and more people are into this hype and it is only appropriate that we know where this started and would be going to.

I agree with Amy. A good background is what we all need about online dating. Sometimes it’s not just the end result that we should be interested on, we should know something at least about this culture.

Hi,
I am a trainee Journalist in London and am doing a piece on online dating and the increase in younger people using online dating in order to meet people. I read this discussion and it is extremely helpful. I was wondering if you had any specific statistics on younger people (18-25 demographic) specifically within the UK using online dating websites as a preferred way to meeting potential partners.

Thanks.