Improvement for Husbandry and Trade periodical featured an ad by John Hewton stating he wanted to share his destiny with a young lady and they could “come to an agreement about the details.” The year was 1695. Such ads were exclusive to men in those days. Despite this, in 1795, the courageous Helen Morrison, searching for a life partner, placed an ad in the Manchester Weekly Journal. The town Mayor promptly arrested her held her for 4 weeks.
As Bob Dylan sang, “The times they are a-changin’.” Today, anyone can go on-line seeking everything from an activity buddy to a life partner.
Looking for Love Online is BIG BUSINESS!
The Beatles wailed, “Money can’t buy you love.” Don’t try telling that to the masses. Dating, looking for the ‘date’ and the search for on line love (or whatever it is) rakes in millions in revenue every year. In 2009, 40 million people spent 1.5 billion dollars on over 1,400 websites looking for someone to love.
Match.Com boasts 15 million users, six million of them logging in daily to find love, with a mere 1.5% success rate. Match determines success as “a relationship that developed as a result of the site”.
With 10 million users in 2006, eHarmony reported 33K marriages, a puny 1%. Since eHarmony defines success as “a match resulting in marriage”, by their own terms, 99% of their users failed.
Still, on line dating sites make it possible for millions of singles…and countless not-singles who purport to be single, (another blog in a few days) to connect with one another in a quest for various forms of companionship. It falls to the consumer to determine whether or not it’s worth the effort. Financial expense and success ratios are but two considerations in a line of criteria to help singles come to their own conclusion about the real value of dating online. In future blogs we’ll explore other considerations.
My next blog will examine the first cousin to online dating…virtual relationships, dating without ever really dating. If you’ve got a story to share (I’ll keep it confidential and use your story with no name attached), let me hear from you at: mark@startingoverworkshops.com You can also comment below as well.
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Mark Skalberg
