It’s been trending this way for years, but seeing it graphed out like this is shocking.

What do you think are the effects of this drastic change?

  • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    117
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    1 month ago

    I think the online thing is about to start dropping. The sites are so full of looky-loos who just want to chat and never actually meet in person they’re hardly worth the time. I expect as the bot infestation continues to grow, they’ll be even less useful.

      • eldavi@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        some of recognize that and use it to enrich themselves & entrench their positions; a few others who also recognize it decide to use it to try improve humanity’s lot in life; and the overwhelming majority are only vaguely aware at best, call the latter tankies while idolizing the former.

    • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      1 month ago

      “online” doesn’t necessarily mean dedicated dating/match making apps.

      The Internet connects people in a way that nothing ever has before. You use the Internet to seek out interests of yours, as will other people. So like minded people tend to meet even incidentally.

      I met my partner online, but it was on a game, not a dating service. Neither of us were really looking for love. We became friends, then started dating, and now married for years.

      • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 month ago

        …Even now, though, if we have an argument I shout, “noob! EZ! Uninstall!” and she waits around awkwardly for some moderator to penalize me.

        • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          1 month ago

          “Do you take this woman, to have and to hold, to draw aggro and tank for, in MSQ and DLC, so long as the NA servers stay up?”

          “Roger that”

          “And do you take this man, to have and to hold, to heal and to buff, in grinding and in raids, so long as the NA servers stay up?”

          “I do”

          chockobo music starts

      • Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 month ago

        I once moved across the country for a woman I (re)met during a random Words with Friends match. Took us a dozen games before I realized I’d originally met her through LiveJournal, about a decade earlier.

        Many years later, my wife moved across the country to be with me, after we met on Reddit. (Clearly the previously mentioned woman was better as a friend.)

        • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 month ago

          Met on Elder Scrolls Online, graduated to hanging out outside of the game, picked up some other co op games together, fell in love!

    • PunchingWood@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      Most of the “people” on there aren’t people. They’re either bots or occasionally those looky-loos that are just hired actors to keep people engaged to the site and try and get as much money out of them as possible. Especially the paid dating sites are mostly just that. They’re just sucking money out of people that are genuinely emotionally invested and sometimes even desperate. It’s real sad, and disgusting from those sites.

      I think online dating will still remain. But it’s less of actual interest for long term stuff, and more want to have a fun one night stand kind of deal. I feel like most other things on that chart turned into that as well though.

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 month ago

      I think the online thing is about to start dropping.

      The graph stops at 2020…the height of the pandemic where everyone was stuck in physical, but not virtual isolation.

      I agree with you except my guess is that has already dropped if post-pandemic data was introduced.

    • you_are_dust@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 month ago

      Totally agree with this. I’ve been on and off the apps for years and they get worse each time I try again. There is a population of people that use dating apps like a game trying to get the high score with the points being likes and matches. It’s just another form of social media at this point.

    • wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      “dating” (fucking) apps: ew ❌

      becoming a furry and then dating exclusively within the fandom for a much smaller pool of candidates but that are generally much more intelligent and just as socially awkward as you so the awkwardness cancels itself out: ☑️

      My first unofficial bf (really early in my teens) was a normie, and when that collapsed I went furry-only for relationships, never looked back. Had some amazing relationships due to it. The intelligence bar is much, much higher, so when you get into a conversation, it’s a deep, insightful, intriguing topic. My ex, he has adhd, autism, and several other quirks, and I could listen to him talk about stuff for hours, literally. The excitement he got from discussing something he was interested and passionate about, made topics I know nothing about and/or care nothing about, interesting; and I would always learn a nugget or two of information. And because furries are typically all weird as fuck, nothing is really weird. It’s liberating to just speak your mind without being worried about being judged or criticized.

      I tried to dip my toes into the traditional dating/hookup apps a decade or so ago. Assholes as far as the eye can see, nothing meets their standards and they will demean you because of it. Fuck them all, and not in the fun way.

    • Soluna@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 month ago

      I sure hope so. That or a good open source app for dating becomes available as an alternative. Alovoa is the only one I’m aware of and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. I’m not opposed to the idea of meeting people online but I just absolutely cannot stand the predatory monetization practices of these companies and the social environments they facilitate. It’s unbearably toxic.

    • Ithral@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      Why do you assume people are meeting on dating apps? I met my spouse in VR chat, and a few others I’ve had relationships with I met as mutuals on a Discord server… Online isn’t necessarily Tinder