2015 Dating Year In Review

A roundup of our 2015 online dating year in review – trends, tendencies, pitfalls and shining lights…

So, what was online dating like in 2015? Some say this is the year we witnessed online dating reach new heights and surpass traditional dating as a more popular means of getting hitched. Others say its popularity marks the end of an era – and the end to “love” the way humankind has meant it for the past 2000 years.

We believe the truth is somewhere in the middle. Sure, online dating is more powerful than ever, all facts and figures corroborate that. At the same time we believe that any kind of claim about the untimely death of love has been vastly exaggerated.

So, let’s travel back in time for a look at what 2015 had in store for us…

Love is science!

Never before has love been such a huge discussion point for scientists. Online dating has provided scientists – behavioural psychologists, anthropologists, neurologists etc. – with a fascinating new resource to delve into the human psyche. They’ve made some pretty mind-blowing discoveries from a cure for love-sickness to mathematical equations for finding love to the worrying prophecy that online dating indeed is slowly but surely destroying love.

Scientists may be right. But their discoveries can help us mere mortals make better decisions so that we keep what’s worth keeping in this world. Love is really like climate change – will we all be doomed if we sit around and do nothing? Well, yes! Will we listen to the words of warning and do something?! Hell, yes! Or at least we hope so…

Love is not real

While we’re on the subject of science, love and keeping it alive, there’s also another school of thought, which claims love might not actually exist at all! It’s all in the mind, like any other behavioural pattern or obsession.

How can it be that it doesn’t exist? Haven’t we all felt it – and often more acutely than most other feelings?

And does it also mean Santa is not real? Hmm…

The total trendsetter…

…surprise, surprise, it’s Tinder!

When it comes to online dating Tinder’s certainly been the talk of the year. This year they came up with their slightly controversial paid version Tinder Plus and also made headlines as the evilest of all evils – a hook-up app designed to do what scientists have predicted, that is destroy love once and for all and turn us all into humping bunny rabbits.

Yet it remains ever popular and occasionally you also hear heart-warming stories of people who’ve managed to find one another – or at least a kidney donor.

The negative tendency…

…number one is fraud. Some staggering statistics show that online daters lose more than £30 million to scammers each year and that over 3,500 people fell victim to dating scams in 2014/15. And the year isn’t even over yet! Seems to us that the more popular online dating becomes, the more vulnerable users will be when it comes to fraud, scams and catfishing. We seriously need a proper online dating security campaign in 2016 to help raise awareness!

The most popular online dating day…

…is still the V-Day. The middle of February marks the height of online dating popularity for most dating sites. In fact, online dating gets more and more popular from the start of January – it must be all those New Year resolutions about finding love (talk about love being dead!) and reaches its absolute height by Valentine Day. Interested in numbers? Here’s our article from February.

There are some fantastic people in online dating!

We say it like it’s a discovery… when in fact it’s no discovery at all! We’ve “met” some wonderful people this year who are doing so much to make online dating a better experience for all of us.

Our special mention goes to Saskia Nelson and Rebecca Perkins who run a website Irresistible Dating helping people who are serious about finding love on an online dating website. Read more about their venture here.

There are some great new sites too – ThinkingBob, a site that works like a village pub, MeetMindful for health-conscious daters, FindMeYou who have done a lot to keep scammers at bay.

Why is matchmaking so popular and what it can do for you – we talked to Suzie Parkus who gave us an interesting insights.

And last – but not least – what is the Online Dating Association and how does it help to protect your safety and stand for your rights?

And that concludes our 2015 dating year in review. All in all it seems we – and many of our colleagues – have had a great year! Hope this will continue in the same manner.

Early next year we’ll take a look at predictions and perspectives that 2016 will hold for online dating.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

About the Author

Aet Suvari has been reviewing and writing about the world of online dating since 2008 and the launch of Online Dating Help. A stickler for promoting ethical practices within the UK dating industry she champions the sites that get it right while highlighting those holding it back. You can follow her on Google+