Mobile dating

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Mobile dating includes the use of websites or apps on portable devices with the aim of finding both short-term and long-term romantic relationships or partnerships .

History and manifestations

An early form of mobile dating were SMS -based chat systems that emerged around 1995. The organizing companies (called “word brothels” in insider circles) often worked with entertainers to get customers to send expensive short messages via SMS. The industry came to a standstill in 2009 when the public prosecutor's office in Kiel was raided.

The next generation of mobile dating services came into being in 2004 and consisted of WAP and simple websites.

Today mobile dating services appear on the one hand as apps for the smartphone operating systems iOS , Android , Blackberry and Windows Mobile , which every user can access on the go. In 2016, 14% of all male and 15% of all female smartphone users in Germany used dating apps.

On the other hand, many people use classic dating sites on their mobile devices via web browsers . In 2014, 11% of German single stock exchange users used the services exclusively on the move.

The real-time area search (LBS) integrated in many “mobile dating apps”, which includes the current location of the mobile device, offers a decisive advantage over dating sites.

User and self-expression

Users

In the past, using mobile dating was seen as an opportunity for desperate singles who found it impossible to find partners through conventional face-to-face communication . Nowadays it is more aimed at users with limited time, people with few single friends in their environment or people who have a small social environment (for example due to a move). This is what the so-called access hypothesis says . Furthermore, the rich-get-richer hypothesis supports the assumption that people with high social skills are more successful online than those who are fearful of relationships. On the other hand, there is the social compensation hypothesis , which says that shy people feel safer behind the computer. The requirement for using dating portals is to be single and a regular user of the Internet.

Self-presentation

When it comes to self-portrayal in mobile dating, there is a dichotomy between portraying an authentic profile and a perfect self-image. It usually happens that the “ideal self” is presented, which means that 80% of users incorrectly state their weight, height or age. Women are more likely to misrepresent their appearance and weight, while men are more likely to give false information about their relationship status and the goals of the relationship they are striving for. The intention of the users with the self-presentation is that the self-esteem is increased and one develops personally.

market

Back in 2005 , the San Francisco Chronicle named mobile dating the "next big step in the evolution of social life on the Internet". According to surveys from 2011, 122 million people worldwide registered on the relevant portals every month, 14 million of them via smartphone.

The German mobile dating market is estimated at around 25 million euros, and around 100 million US dollars worldwide, according to experts. In 2016, the dating app LOVOO was number 1 among the apps with the highest sales, Tinder number 3. The market leaders in the corresponding apps in Germany include Badoo (32.5% market share), Lovoo (18.4%) and FriendScout24 (15.6%). Other providers such as Tinder , Grindr or others have a very low market share of just under 3%. Three quantitative studies on the number of users show the growth: in spring 2012 around 1 million, in autumn 2012 already 2 million, in spring 2013 2.7 million users. There are more than 200 million users worldwide, but an estimated 50% of the registered user accounts are invalid, duplicate or inactive. According to estimates (November 2012), the 25 most popular apps in Germany were downloaded around 6 million times, in May 2013 the number rose to 8.7 million.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Spiegel online: SMS fake: Flirting services are said to have cheated hundreds of thousands of users , accessed on July 18, 2012
  2. ↑ Share of smartphone dating app users in Germany in 2016 , by gender , accessed on January 31, 2018
  3. ↑ Use of mobile dating via smartphone in Europe by country in 2014 , accessed on January 31, 2018
  4. ↑ a b Online dating - Catalina Toma - Academia.edu , accessed on January 31, 2018
  5. ↑ Valkenburg, PM, & Peter, J .: Preadolescents 'and adolescents' online communication and their closeness to friends. Developmental psychology . 2007.
  6. ^ Sautter, J., Tippett, RM, & Morgan, SP: The social demography of Internet dating in the United States. Social Science Quarterly . 2010, p. 91, 554-575 .
  7. ↑ Journal of Business and Media Psychology (2017) 8, Issue 1, pp. 45–57 (PDF; 560.45 kB), accessed on January 31, 2018
  8. ↑ Leary, MR, & Kowalski, RM: Impression management: A literature review and two-component model. Psychological Bulletin. 1990.
  9. ↑ San Francisco Gate: Hey Baby want a Date , accessed July 9, 2012
  10. ↑ www.onlinepersonalswatch.com: The Business of Love , accessed 18 July 2012
  11. ↑ 2016 app hit list for Germany: Facebook with the most downloads, dating apps with the highest sales - GIGA , accessed on January 31, 2018
  12. ^ 1. German Mobile Dating Study (2012) , accessed on April 26, 2016
  13. ↑ Study: Mobile Dating - A mobile market is growing
  14. ↑ The Mobile Dating Market Study 2013: Germany, Austria, Switzerland (PDF; 1.2 MB), accessed on April 26, 2016
  15. ↑ Mobile Love Study 2012 , accessed April 26, 2016

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