Dating in 2018
Services, Trends & Statistics
Dating Services
There are two basic dating services in this day in age. Aside from being matched up with a blind date by your friend, you can hire a real life matchmaker. You can also join on of the hundreds of online dating sites that are available.
“A dating agency is a business which acts as a service for matchmaking between potential couples, with a view toward romance and/or marriage between them.”
Matchmakers
There are still enough people out there that want real humans to connect them with a mate. In certain situations people that have enough money and can afford to hire someone to analyze their information and match them up with a person that will be a great spouse for them. When I think matchmaker I think of old gypsy ladies but the 2018 version of matchmakers are so much more. They are full-service specialized individuals matchmakers. Professionals that are trained to understand chemistry between two people to create an everlasting bond. There are companies that devote their whole premise is to matching people up together for love.
“66% of singles surveyed say chemistry is more important than compatibility. A computer can’t detect that.”
Online Dating
A more common form of dating services are online dating apps. They are far more affordable than a personalized matchmaker but it takes a bit longer to sort through all your matches by yourself. Online dating typically costs $30-$60 dollars per month. Online dating is also available at your fingertips. So for those of you that need to have possible dates at a moment’s notice this is the choice for you. There are hundreds of different forums in online dating as well, dating apps for singles that are Christian, Jewish, Black, Gay, Farmers, you name it there is a dating site for it.
“4 out of 5 singles would be open to a kiss on a first date.”
Current Dating Trends
The Bad
The trends that are circulating in the dating sphere lately are not only a bit odd but they also seem like old trends with new names. Such as “breadcrumbing,” a meaner version of “ghosting” so rather than just ignoring contact with someone they leave bits of contact with hopes of getting together soon but don’t actually do it. This seems far worse than just being blown off. It is like a game that you are being teased into playing and thinking you can win but no one ever does. Another is “stashing.” This one is when you date someone but hide them from your friends and family because you want to stay in the happy non judgemental bubble when you start to date someone new. If you don’t introduce them to friends and family or social media then your relationship remains just yours and his. It can be shady in a way though because then no one knows you are dating and things can get messy. Another trend is “cushioning” or keeping someone on the tie while you date around to fill the space of your past lover. It is like using a real life placeholder, how rude! All of this can be seen as pretty terrible and make dating trends seem negative and horrible. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Dating trends aren’t all miserable.
The Good
Men that are considered the “nice guy” get 67% more messages back than the “bad boy.” There is hope that the nice guy won’t finish last anymore. Although some women still want the bad boy, there are more women that want a nice and reliable guy to share their lives with. Another positive change in dating trends is the higher education you have the sexier you appear. People are more likely to chose someone with a Masters than someone who has a GED. Not to say one is better than the other, that’s just how it seems to being going lately in the world of online dating apps. At Chipotle, Guac is extra and if you mention your love of guacamole you too will be extra, extra liked that is! Someone that mentions guacamole in his or her profile now will receive 144% more traffic than people that do not. Who knew a love of a dip would bring so much love to your profile!
As it seems, this generation of online daters enjoy kind men, that are intelligent and enjoy guacamole. I wonder what people dating twenty years ago would have to say about these specs. It is a pretty unlikely combination. Was guacamole even a thing in the 90s? Dating sure was but boy did it have its differences.
How The Concept Of Dating Has Changed
If you ask anyone on the street they will say how dating has changed and it is just not as pleasant as it used to be. I would have to say that dating has changed but only because society has changed. The same “people” are around but the entire style of dating hasn’t changed all that much when looking at the big picture. The only thing that has noticeably changed with dating is formality. Before you could date someone twenty or even thirty years ago typically you needed a parents permission and things were a little more high brow. Now all you need to do is text a stranger and they will come sleep with you…my how things have changed.
People always acted the way they do now, there were just different ways to categorize them. A playboy is what we now call a F***boy. Same thing, different name. I will also say that with the help of the internet, dating has changed in the sense that you have much more volume than people did back years ago. You can swipe across twenty different faces or profiles in an hour whereas before online dating you had to actually meet-up with twenty different people on twenty different occasions to do so. Nevertheless, the latest trends in dating are online dating apps. They are simple, cost effective and make for a good tool for those of us that want love but have little time to spend waiting at a bar to meet someone worth our time.
More and more people are also dating people of a different ethnicity than themselves. 1 in 6 to be exact. The reason for this is again, thank to the internet. You are able to meet people from different cultures and ethnicities because the world gets smaller with the internet and you do not just have to date the people that you live near and are in your dating bubble.
“There is a right way to enter into internet dating. It is important to have reasonable expectations; and it is important to accept the fact that you want to meet someone. Just as most other young men and women do.”
What’s Next?
All in all, dating seems very tasking no matter what forum you choose as your arsenal. It appears to show a trend in dating that more people will date people outside of their circles, simply because they can and other cultures are more accessible as well as the vast net we can cast when we are searching for someone to date.
