Love of your life? You'll probably meet online

Dating website eHarmony will today reveal that from the year 2031, it’ll be more likely that you’ll meet a partner online than offline. 'The Future of Dating report,' commissioned by eHarmony.co.uk and compiled by The Future Foundation, reveals that from the year 2031 over 50% of couples will meet online.

Note: Generally leaving sweets on your keyboard makes it sticky
and prompts awkward questions as a result.

Of these, 38% will be via an online dating or matchmaking service (up from 17% today) and a further 12% will have their first meeting through other types of dating website. And by 2040, seven in 10 relationships will be able to attribute their coming-together to either online dating or online communication. As well as impacting on our personal lives, this is estimated to have a significant impact on the UK economy, contributing more than £256 million of consumer spending by 2030 – a real terms increase of 81% compared to today. 

Couples from the South East (22%) and East of England (20%) are the most likely to have met one another online, while the fastest expected growth in online dating by 2030 will be in London. Over the past decade internet access among UK 18-64s has more than doubled, from 43% in 2003 to 88% today, yet over the same period the proportion of couples finding love online has more than trebled and has continued to grow strongly since 2008.

Other significant factors behind the trend include the growth in smartphone usage, which makes online dating the easiest and most efficient way to meet a partner, with users able to review and communicate with matches at anytime from anywhere. More than half of online daters (52%) now use a smartphone to interact with their online dating service, and one in three use a tablet computer. Emotionally, the ‘stigma’ attached to both online dating, and the sharing of personal data online generally via social media, has dropped dramatically in recent years, with Britons living increasingly more of their lives online. Attitudinal research among UK consumers reveals that two thirds of people (58%) would use online dating if they became single in the future.

This tells us that not only is online dating becoming normal, it is becoming accepted, and it is on its way to being the way that couples form relationships. Dr Mariya Stoilova, researcher at relationship charity OnePlusOne said: ‘Online dating has become more culturally acceptable as a legitimate approach to finding a partner. While traditional dating relationships might take months to develop in the real world, online dating relationships unfold much faster.'

This may be true, but before you wholeheartedly agree, have a think about this particular scenario.

When you socialise with a new boyfriend, the inevitable question always comes up at around the ten minute mark: "So, how did you two meet?" In my case, cue an awkward glance at each other and a high pitched "umm?" from both of us, before finally, before the situation gets too awkward, one of us concedes to tell the story of how we met. "Actually, we met online, through a dating app."

The reaction is always quite similar, a raise of the eyebrow covered up by a well timed "aaah", before the conversation is moved swiftly on to how our jobs are going etc. Despite today's statistics, the awkwardness is obvious, and the judgement palpable, whenever I discuss the beginnings of my current relationship.

The findings from The Future of Dating report aren't shocking, or particularly groundbreaking - if the internet is being increasingly used for shopping, socialising and banking, then why should dating not follow suit? Though the statistics indisputably suggest that online dating will indeed become the norm, how long will it take for people to lose that eyebrow raise and let go of those preconceptions of online dating?