Online Dating Survey Results: Site Interaction, Relationships, and Interest

52.9% of respondents indicated they have interacted with at least two dating sites. Many indicated that they have only interacted with one at 26.5% and many said they have interacted with three at 14.7%. This question had limitations in that some people who may have participated in "online dating" did not actually use an online dating site. Some people consider online dating to be meeting a person of interest or significant other on the internet via social media sites like Myspace or Facebook. Some online daters have also used Craigslist.

Online dating "success" stories (or at least the ones that are advertised to us) are usually associated with the specific site that is being used. Some sites approach success using phrases geared more toward commitment, while others use phrases regarding situational aspects, like deciding to meet someone. "These differences demonstrate that individuals  who use different dating sites have varying definitions of success
and  that these users  highlight different aspects of the relationship process, possibly related to or determined by the status of their relationship." (Mascaro, Magee, Goggins, 2011) Online daters chose different dating sites for different reasons, and it would be interesting to examine why. 73.5% of respondents to my survey have tried two or more online dating sites, perhaps to seek a different result than interactions with the others.  Success for online daters depends on the site they use, and statistics for success and the way success is approached by different sites varies.

76.5% of respondents indicated that only "a few" of their dating relationships have started online, and 17.6% indicated that none of their dating relationships started online. Two people indicated that a moderate amount of their relationships started online. From this we can conclude that it is possible to start and maintain a relationship from meeting someone on the internet. Many personal stories (both successful and failed relationship stories) support this.

47.1% of respondents indicated that they were interested in casual dating when they started online dating, and 44.1% said they were looking for a committed relationship when starting. Most young adults start online dating because they are interested in casually dating someone or are looking for a committed relationship. Depending on the online dating site, however, interests can be different. This is particularly interesting when you look at niche dating sites described in the news story in a previous blog post. Analyzing statistics like this on different dating sites could be useful to ease the fears and negative stigma associated with online dating and misrepresentation.