| It’s a sad fact that divorce rates are rising all the time, so the older you are, the more likely you are to be looking for a new partner. Yet if you’re over 40, it may well be the first time you’ve used the internet for something so personal, and it may all seem very strange. But don’t panic! The Internet has only been around for twenty years, so online dating is a relatively new phenomenon for everyone, not just the over 40’s.
What may seem daunting is that many of the online dating sites appear to be aimed at those under 40. This is reinforced by advertising campaigns in the media and on TV which firmly pitch their sales effort at the younger end of the market. Whether or not this is their intention, it’s how it comes across to many people, so hopefully, this will change over time.
Not Alone
Over 40 million people in the US alone access online dating websites every month. In fact, it’s the fastest growing sector of online content. So there’s no reason to feel embarrassed because nowadays, large numbers of people are doing it. You may be surprised to discover that the number of people using online dating (as opposed to more traditional methods) actually rises with age. For example only 3% of men aged 18-24 do online dating, whereas for men over 40, it’s 14%. These figures came from an independent survey of American singles, carried out for MatchMaker in 2003. There were other differences:
» Looks were more important to younger than the over 40 singles – ten times the number of women aged 18-24 counted looks as the most important quality in a potential date as women over 40.
» Over 40’s of both sexes chose intelligence as the most important quality twice as often as younger people.
In fact, evidence is mounting that women in their 40s are having the most luck when it comes to online dating. Offline, mature women can find it hard to meet someone. Online, over 25% of women over 40 have been quoted as finding someone through online dating. So online dating is definitely not just a young person’s game.
|
