Dating and politics – mix and match!

Should we attack Syria? What do think about free healthcare? How much tax should go for defence purposes?

It’s weird to associate these questions with online dating, yet they are related and very much so!

In fact, there’s some new research from the US that shows online dating increases polarisation in the US as people are matched with those whose political and general world views are closer to their own views and preferences.

Makes sense – liberal people are filtered to be shown only in the search results of like-minded people and vice versa with more conservative views. If this is happening in the US there’s absolutely no reason why it shouldn’t be happening right here as well. Tories get Tories in search results, labour voters are offered other labour supporters and so on and so forth.

So you end up with Guardian Soulmates for left leaning types and Encounters Dating from the Times for those sitting more to the right.

While it’s understandable that some views just don’t match, this kind of practice also significantly lowers the chances of people meeting other people outside their own circle and mixing their views. Thus it creates whole clusters of couples (and/or families) who all think pretty much the same way and have no contradictory opinions at all in their close circles, therefore increasing the chance of ideological extremes coming to the surface.

This is a very troublesome thought indeed. We cannot but encourage you to widen your search categories. Don’t get too stuck to an ideal in your head, don’t look for someone very similar to yourself whose opinions you would always share. A difference of opinion is a good thing, even within a partnership and/or family.

You can read more about the research at the always politically neutral Daily Mail 😉

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+