84% Of Brits Don't Believe In Online Dating

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK - Mar 17 - A new survey by Macmillan Cancer has revealed that whilst nine out of ten Brits think online dating has become more acceptable, 84% don’t believe it’s the best way to meet a long term partner. Only 14% of singletons trust someone's online dating profile. 15% worried date might be 'weird' in person or not look like picture (8%). 69% would be happy for a friend to suggest dates through Facebook.

by Bianca London
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

Comments

[Mark Brooks]

Users underestimate the amount of work it takes to find a date online. Its far better than the real world, but its still not a cake-walk.

[Sean Wood]

I think going on a first date has all of those anxieties for many people, irrespective of whether they met online or are going on a blind date organised by friends.

'What if he/she is a bit weird?', 'What if we don't get on?', 'What if we have nothing to talk about?', are likely to be the sort of questions running through the mind of anyone going on a date with somebody for the first time. This is just typical human behaviour.

The fact that the survey shows 9 out of 10 people find online dating acceptable, is a more important statistic.

This survey reveals nothing new regarding the truthfulness of a person's dating profile. The concerns about whether somebody has been honest in their profile have always existed. Such concerns have been an aspect of online dating since it begun. Men lie about what they earn, women are not always truthful about their vital statistics, and both can be guilty of uploading photographs that may not be the most recent.

The way to make sure online dating works for you, is to get to know the person a bit more before going on a date. Ask for a recent photo, use the dating site's video chat if it is available, make sure you are both comfortable with each other and have enough in common that any anxieties are diminished before that crucial first date.

This also reinforces the message that online daters need to create as detailed a profile as possible. Let others know what you are interested in and what you do with your spare time. That way you are more likely to attract people with similar interests or who fit in with your lifestyle.

[Dan Winchester]

This looks like a classic "survey for the purposes of PR" job to me.

For example, take this statement:

nearly a third (29 per cent) admitting that they’ve resorted to running away from an online date, got drunk (20 per cent) or faked an illness or emergency (9 per cent) in order to escape, because it was so bad.

In order to come to this conclusion, they must have constructed the survey with a leading question along the lines of:

"Have you ever faked an illness in order to escape from a date who you original met on an online dating site?"

To be remotely scientific, you would also need a balancing question regarding the same scenario occurring for dates which originated via alternative methods, which seems to be absent from the survey as published.

The survey was commissioned by Macmillan Cancer who are trying to promote their own fund-raising alternative to online dating, "My Mate Your Date", which you can read about here:

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Aboutus/News/Latest_News/OnlinedatingmoreacceptablethaneverbeforebutmostBritsdontbelieveitsthebestwaytofindtruelove.aspx

https://www.mymateyourdate.com/

My Mate Your Date relies on Facebook being a more reliable method of finding a date than an online dating site, which surprise surprise is one of the conclusions of the survey.

I'm sure if you got some comment from Macmillan they would concede that this is just a bit of fluffy PR fun and not something they can seriously substantiate.