An online dating application , commonly known as a dating app , is an online dating service presented through a mobile phone application. These apps often take advantage of a smartphone's GPS location capabilities, always on-hand presence, and access to mobile wallets. These apps aim to speed up the online dating process of sifting through potential dating partners, chatting, flirting, and potentially meeting or becoming romantically involved.
Online dating apps are now mainstream in the United States. As of , online dating which included both apps and other online dating services was the principal method by which new couples in the U.
The first computerized dating service was launched in , the St. The first U. It required men and women to complete a questionnaire and was launched in Operation Match inspired the methodology of Dateline , which became popular in the s and s. Online dating applications typically target a younger demographic group, though some apps, like Senior Match and Silver Singles are geared toward the 50 and up demographic. This explosion in usage can be explained by the increased use of smartphones.
By the end of , it is expected there will be million active users of online dating services worldwide. The increased use of smartphones by those 65 and older has also driven that population to the use dating apps.
The Pew Research Center found that usage increase by 8 points since last surveyed in Research using Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory has indicated that norms about online dating applications tend to differ across cultures. A study published in the Journal of Creative Communications looked into the relationships between dating-app advertisements from over 51 countries and the cultural dimensions of these countries.
