Online dating has become a billion dollar industry and is today a common way for people to meet potential mates - however, a new report written by researchers from Northwestern University and published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest has said that online dating websites fall short of their potential, make several phony claims, but do offer some benefits.
Just two decades ago, online dating did not exist. Nowadays, thousands of websites claim to be able to help us seek out our long-lost soulmate, and set us on our way to living happily ever after. How many of these claims are true, and how much of it all is basically, just enticing marketing hype?
According to this new report, online dating websites do not live up to their claims.
Associate Professor of Social Psychology, Eli Finkel and team set out to determine how effective and close to their claims online dating services really are. They focused mainly on finding out whether online dating helps or hinders people's romantic outcomes.
Matching suitability algorithms are probably false
A considerable number of online dating websites say they have a "matching algorithm", a formula that matches people in a way that makes sure they are compatible, thus significantly increasing the chances of romantic success. However, after studying these so-called algorithms, the researchers believe that the website are unable to substantiate their claims, and that probably the algorithms are phony.
Algorithms claimed to be used by dating sites miss out on crucial insights that have emerged from relationship science. The most powerful and least inaccurate predictors of a relationship's success cannot be assessed before partners meet - their interaction style and how they manage to get through stressful circumstances are not possible to predict with current online dating algorithms.
Dating sites tell us they can bring an enormous number of potential mates our way from their extensive database, which they claim is full of compatible contenders. However, the authors say that nothing is as effective as face-to-face contact when determining whether there is any chemistry between two people.
Sifting through a list of potential partners online may encourage people to go about their search much like they would during a shopping spree, rather than a mate-seeking pursuit - this raises the risk of not identifying well-suited candidates; seeing them on the online list but passing them over.
Advantage of online dating is speed, convenience and numbers
The authors explain that online dating helps people meet potential mates rapidly so that they can quickly determine whether or not there is any compatibility with the people they eventually meet. Initial contacts may be through online chats and messaging exchanges, which help them get to know each other a bit. It is important, the authors add, that a face-to-face meeting occurs relatively soon.
The researchers hope their findings will encourage online dating services create "a more rigorous scientific foundation" for their services, given that they are intervening in people's romantic lives and aspirations.
Psychological scientists, Arthur Aron, at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, writes in a preface to the report that perhaps a panel should be set up which would grade dating sites according to scientifically credible they are.
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