Impact of technology: Dating Apps
Technology has significantly impacted most aspects of our lives. Like, finding a romantic partner. Now more and more young people are turning to online dating sites and mobile phone applications in search of love and intimacy. Dating applications (dating apps) originated in the gay community with Grindr (launched in 2009) and Scruff (launched in 2010), which helped single men link up by searching for other active users within a specific geographic radius. In 2012 Tinder was launched and iPhone-owning people of all sexualities can now start looking for love, or sex, or casual dating which quickly became the most popular dating app on the market. But the gigantic shift in dating culture really started to take hold the following year, when Tinder expanded to Android phones, then to more than 70 percent of smartphones worldwide.
Shortly many more dating apps came online. Like in 2012 Ma Baoli founded the company Blue City wherein he launched Blued which now has more than 49 million registered users and 6 million monthly active users (MAUs) worldwide, making it one of the world’s leading LGBTQ+ platforms, according to a report by independent research firm Frost & Sullivan for Blue City. While, in late 2014 Whitney Wolfe Herd and Andrey Andreev (founder of dating app Badoo) founded the female-focused dating app Bumble which has grown quickly since 2015, amassing 100 million users worldwide and expanding into professional networking and friendship in addition to dating. We have plenty of options to try, just swipe.
Inclusion, attachment and romance
Studies have shown that humans have an ingrained primal need to feel purpose and inclusion. Young adults, ages 18-25, are particularly driven to belong and often use their relationships with others as a way to shape their own identity (Allen, 2008). One way that people achieve this is through the acquisition of meaningful romantic partnerships. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife." The famous opening line from the book of Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice in 1813 expressed sentiment illustrating that the characters in the book, like most people, are much occupied with finding a partner, to attain things like love, stability or security.
What serve as another outlet for young adults to seek meaningful attachments to peer right now? Of course the internet, and online dating in particular. Wherein you can limit people you want to interact with, someone with the same hobbies, likes and wants and age. It is easier to relate to people and get attach to them, which leads to development of feelings - romance.
Swipe, Right?
It is a lot easier now to look for a special someone or companionship with the invention and widespread adoption of the newest technological development: the internet. Users can swipe right to “like” a profile and left to reject, and when two people have both “liked” each others profile it is a match, the magic of swiping right.
It is true that online dating makes finding multiple dates easier and faster than going to a bar but be mindful before swiping right.
Sources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/12/tinder-changed-dating/578698/
https://www.businessinsider.com/bumble-dating-app-company-history-2021-ipo-2020-9
https://ph.asiatatler.com/society/dating-online-apps-love-coronavirus
https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-leaders-and-founders/article/3092443/founder-chinese-gay-dating-app-blued-optimistic
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/02/06/the-virtues-and-downsides-of-online-dating/
Allen, J. (2008). Attachment in adolescence. In J. Cassidy and P. Shaver (Eds.),
Handbook of Attachment: theory, research and clinical implications (2nd ed.)., (pp.
419-435). New York: Guilford Press
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