Chances are, that if you were trying to find a date 15 years ago, you would have to be in the same place at the same time.
Internet dating changed all that, with users researching and contacting a potential date before meeting; turning the lonely hearts column into a billion-dollar industry. Over 17% of single internet users have used dating websites according to one recent US survey.
A number of apps allow users to see potential partners nearby with a username, photograph and selected details about them. They can then contact each other and arrange to meet in a matter of minutes.
“I think everyone struggles to meet people,” says Joel Simkhai, CEO of newly-launched app Blendr, promising to make social networks social again.
And it does seem like there is a desire to meet people online in the hope that love could be, quite literally, around the corner.
Skout, another app available on both iOS and Android platforms, promises users can “flirt, chat, maybe even find a date” by using its GPS-enabled service. Currently the most widely-used app of its kind, it has seven million people signed up, with a 60% to 40% split between men and women.
‘Sexual promiscuity’
Simkhai has previous experience with GPS dating. He is the man behind Grindr, an app targeted at the gay community. With over 2.6 million users – over 100,000 of whom are in London – it is said to be responsible for changing the way gay men meet through the internet.
But the service has received criticism for apparently being designed to facilitate casual – often very brief – liaisons. Critics say sites like Grindr promote sexual promiscuity and are “likely to chip away at the norm and practice of monogamy”.
Simkhai says the situation is more complex. “One of the main reasons people go to Grindr is actually for friendships,” he says, adding that the platform is neutral and only makes it easier to meet people. It is up to them what they do with it. Read more