Find the love of your life on Tinder? Online dating sites produce relationships of the same quality as real life, says a new study
Which loves are "better"?
But back to the numbers, they speak clearly and factually. How did the aforementioned American study take place? Researchers asked 233 college students about the quality of their current or most recent relationship based on "aspects of satisfaction, intimacy and trust."
Of the 120 students who were recruited during the survey, 86 met their partner IRL (from the English "in real life", i.e. in an imaginary offline world) and the remaining 34 respondents found their match on a dating app. But when the researchers asked about the quality of these partner relationships, respondents said there was "no significant difference" between them. Relationship satisfaction, intimacy, and trust were simply not determined by whether the two in question ran into each other online or offline.
The stigma of Tinder & Co. is gradually fading
The study's author, assistant professor Mickey Langlais from Baylor University in the US, told PsyPost that the stigma around dating apps appears to be diminishing. Although he appealed to colleagues to undertake similar research on a different, more representative sample of respondents, it's clear that we already consider getting to know each other via Tinder, Badoo, Bumble and other platforms to be less awkward than we used to - and thus less inclined to make a taboo out of the fact that a virtual match or superlike was at the origin of a new love.
Considering that the search for "love over the internet" has long been seen as desperate, inauthentic, superficial or disconnected from reality, this is a pretty fundamental shift in opinion. For gay men, dating apps are often the safest and easiest way to hook up with a new partner. All the more reason to dismiss this route in advance - and not even try it.
Gay weddings - even celebrity dates
Those who at least occasionally "swim" in the gay waters of the X network will not be too surprised by the conclusion of the American study. Love stories with a happy ending that started on Tinder or Grindr are quite common on the former Twitter - and now couples are celebrating many years of couple harmony, or even their wedding anniversary. Imaginary "success stories" from the world of same-sex love are also making their way onto Instagram - you can find encouraging examples under the hashtag #MetOnGrindr.
After all - various queer celebrities are also known users of dating apps. So the lucky ones can also "pick up" music stars such as Sam Smith and Troye Sivan via their mobile screen.
Quickies or serious dating sites?
While the aforementioned dating sites have long carried the stigma of "speed dating," shady apps that serve no purpose in the gay community other than to arrange casual sex, according to a survey conducted by the Gay Therapy Center, queer people are already treating these apps a little differently.
In a study focused on queer respondents, 91% said they considered both the photos and the written text in the profile when looking for a match on a dating site. (Good news for anyone hoping that an honestly filled out user profile will increase their chances of a satisfying love life. It makes sense, someone is actually reading your bio!)
In addition, more than 40% of respondents say they've been dating from a dating app for "more than a year." So the real chances of love starting on a mobile app (and eventually lasting significantly longer than a one-night stand) are demonstrably there!
