Definition
A computerized service to help people find love, casual encounters, and different sexual or fetish communities.
Introduction
Computerized dating systems have existed since the earliest days of computer technology in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily in the United States and parts of northern Europe. During the 1980s compatibility algorithms and matching software became increasingly sophisticated, and with the introduction of the Internet in 1991, online dating systems began to transform how people meet, marry, and form various sociosexual connections. The first site was established in 1995 by Match.com and eHarmony, which claims to use a “scientific” approach to romance, and was launched in 2000, with hundreds of others following in their commercially productive wake. According to Online Dating Magazine founder Joe Tracy (2013), there are over 8000 online dating sites globally, and 2500...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Abraham, J., & Kuperman, A. (2017). I had a nice time and other lies…: How to find love & sh∗t like that. New York: Gallery Books.
Birch, J. (2018). The love gap: A radical plan to win in love and life. New York: Grand Central Life & Style.
Blackhart, G., Fitzpatrick, J., & Williamson, J. (2014). Dispositional factors predicting use of online dating sites and behaviors related to online dating. Computers in Human Behavior, 33, 113–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.022
Catalina, L., & Hancock, J. (2010). Looks and lies: The role of physical attractiveness in online dating self-presentation and deception. Communication Research, 37(3), 335–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650209356437
Coles, J. (2018). Love rules: How to find a real relationship in a digital world. New York: Harper.
Ellison, N., Heino, R., & Gibbs, J. (2006). Managing impressions online: Self-presentation processes in the online dating environment. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(2), 415–441. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00020.x
Essig, L. (2019). Love, Inc. dating apps, the big white wedding, and chasing the happily ever after. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Feliciano, C., Lee, R., & Robnett, B. (2011). Racial boundaries among Latinos: Evidence from internet daters' racial preferences. Social Problems, 58(2), 189–212. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2011.58.2.189
Hall. (2014). First comes social networking, then comes marriage? Characteristics of Americans married 2005–2012 who met through social networking sites. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, And Social Networking, 17(5), 322–326. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2013.0408
Kreager, D., Cavanagh, S., & Yu, M. (2014). “Where have all the good men gone?” Gendered interactions in online dating. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76(2), 387–410. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12072
Robinson, B. (2017). Doing sexual responsibility: HIV, risk discourses, trust, and gay men interacting online. Sociological Perspectives, 61(3), 383–398. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121417709248
Sharabi, L., & Caughlin, J. (2019). Deception in online dating: Significance and implications for the first offline date. New Media & Society, 21(1), 229–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818792425
Slater, D. (2015). Love in the time of algorithms: What technology does to meeting and mating. New York: Penguin.
Tracy, J. (2013). Another look: Starting an online dating service, Online Dating Magazine. https://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/columns/industry/2007/startinganonlinedatingservice.html
Vandeweerd, C., Myers, J., Coulter, M., Yalah, A., & Corvin, J. (2016). Positives and negatives of online dating according to women 50+. Journal of Women and Aging, 28(3), 259–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/08952841.2015.1137435
Zwilling, M. (2013). How many more online dating sites do we need? Forbes Magazine (Mar 1). https://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2013/03/01/how-many-more-online-dating-sites-do-we-need/#2dce9e007882
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Orchard, T. (2019). Online Dating Sites. In: Lykins, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sexuality and Gender. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_18-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_18-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-59531-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-59531-3
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences