People and the Internet - Looking For Love In All The Wired Places

According the Census, in the year 2000 there were 48.2 million people over the age of 18 who have never married, 13.7 million who have been widowed and 19.8 million who are divorced. Some of these, of course, are people who are in some sort of serious relationship. But a number of these are unattached and looking for Mr. or Ms. Right (or both, for you swingers out there). They are fed up with sitting home with a good book on a Saturday night or enduring being fixed up with someone's cousin from out of town. They are turning to the Internet.

It makes perfect sense: the Internet has become a meeting place for all sorts of people of varying ages, intellects and interests. Just as we search for information on health care or shop for books and CDs, so have we begun shopping for mates. Part of the appeal must certainly come from the safety and anonymity that the online experience affords.

The panel above is an attempt to show that we use the Internet in our personal relationships. The number of visitors to matchmaking/dating web sites jumped from 3.9 million visitors in January 2000 to 5.8 million in January 2001, an increase of 48.7%. Data suggest that there are more than a few romantics out there too: visitors to sites that specialize in flowers and greeting cards increased by 45.6%, from 12.3 million to 17.3 million.

Online dating sites include Matchmaker.com, Oneandonly.com and Match.com. One of the leading sites is Match.com, which signed 4.1 million members in 2000, bringing its database to 10 million (roughly 2 million people maintain active profiles on the site). It costs less than $20 for members to post photos and descriptions of themselves, and communicate with members.

Most would consider this money well spent. And money is being spent: Jupiter Media Metrix estimates revenue from online dating to grow from $41 million in 2001 to $85 million in 2006, an increase of 107%.

Who is visiting these sites? Jupiter reports that 58.3% of men who visit the site are 18 and older; 34.6% of women are 18 and older. The numbers are definitely in the ladies' favor: there are roughly 4 million more men than women who have never taken a walk down the aisle (26.1 million men and 22.1 million women in 2000). Some sites have offered single women free memberships to balance out their rosters.

Personal sites have caught on that we're all looking for somebody. There are sites that cater especially to Jews, Christians, Gays, and the Disabled. Keep in mind that these are personal sites too; no doubt many more people meet in informal ways — in chat rooms or in newsgroups.

Sources: Mullins, Robert. "Love Silicon Valley Style." Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, June 22, 2001: "Valentine's Day Lights E-Commerce Fire." Retrieved February 27, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ecommercetimes.com; "Online Love in the Time of Calamity." Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, December 31, 2001, U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2001, Washington D.C. 2001.