Social media. An indispensable tool for your social contacts, and now also fully established when making business contacts. But: can you also date via social media? The advantages are clear: it’s free, and the fact that you’re ‘looking’ isn’t as noticeable as on a dating site. But are people having success using social media to meet a partner? Research by the American agency Lab42 shows striking results. An intriguing question, one that you don’t often think of when thinking about social media: we know that social media can be useful in business, not to mention your social life – as the name suggests. But is it of any use to you when dating? Is the dating site phenomenon on the verge of death, and will we from now on look for a partner via Facebook, Twitter and Hyves?
Benefits not to be sneezed at
There are a number of significant advantages to social media over dating sites. The first is of course that social media websites are free. While dating sites sometimes claim to be free, they usually only offer very meager services. Sending people hearts as a sign of interest won’t do much good if you can’t email any further! Moreover, social media is not that noticeable. Looking for a partner can sometimes be a cause for a bit of embarrassment, and social media makes it less obvious that you are in for a relationship.
An opportunity you shouldn’t miss
American research shows that those who are not yet involved in social media are missing out on an opportunity for a nice relationship. The researchers from the Lab42 agency interviewed five hundred social media users over the age of eighteen. They asked them about personal reactions to various aspects of meeting people through social media. Of those who were not (yet) in a relationship, 26% indicated that they would also approach someone they like on Facebook. A group that makes up 42% prefers to meet people in person, but a score of one in four is still quite high.
Nice and safe from a distance
Women in particular said that they find it an advantage to be able to find out from a distance via social media whether someone might be something for them. When people actually spot such a person on Facebook, no fewer than 57% will send that person an invitation to become a ‘friend’. 29% of people who are interested will first look at other social networks: If you look at what information Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and the like provide, you will have a better idea of who you may be dealing with. One in four people or 26% does not make a decision overnight. This group googles the person who piqued their interest. In short: a large majority first finds out who they have in front of them.
,People lie so much on dating sites,
It is remarkable how many people in the survey indicated that they did not like online dating. No fewer than three-quarters, or 77%, said, ,It doesn’t feel good. People always lie about who they are., On the other hand, there is a remarkable study by American sociologists when it comes to the accuracy of a Facebook profile. Namely, that profile provides a fairly good impression of who that person really is. The conclusion can therefore be: dating via social media is not so bad after all. Of course, just like with dating sites, you have to proceed with caution and only share things about yourself sparingly. But that applies to all your online contacts.
Have fun flirting via Facebook
A convincing 64% of respondents had exchanged a flirty or even amorous email with someone via her or his Facebook pages. Even if people were already in a relationship, by the way.