If you’re single, and on the prowl, what’s your strategy when it comes to meeting a significant other? If it’s through friends, co-workers or family, you might be hitting a dead end.
According to this graph from a Stanford University Paper on how heterosexual couples in the U.S. met over an 80-year period, once traditional methods of finding romance have seriously fallen out of fashion.
The graph shows couples who met through a family member, friends, or at school at an all-time high in 1940. Fast-forward to 2019 and the percentage of couples who have met because mum set them up with the “handsome doctor from next door” has plummeted to 5%.
On the other hand, the likelihood of meeting someone online has skyrocketed to almost 40% this year. Same goes for meeting at a bar or restaurant, which apparently accounts for over 25% of couples who met in 2019.
So, is the fairytale of locking eyes across the room and falling in love IRL a thing anymore? Or does it come down to the fact that meeting a lover online, or while you’re ordering a drink is far more convenient?
The study notes that “the rise of the Internet has allowed individuals in the dating market to disintermediate their friends, i.e. to meet romantic partners without the personal intermediation of their friends and family.”
And it’s true. Instead of asking your cousin for their hot personal trainer’s number, these days we’re removing the middle man, going direct to the source and finding far more options than we would through said cousin.
It might not be as romantic as The Notebook, but it’s the reality of living in a technology-driven world and let’s be honest, swiping left or mysteriously vanishing from the bar feels far easier than going on an awkward blind date.