Currently, more than 20% of the people in the Netherlands had a relationship that started online. The Dutch have always been relatively open to online dating and bachelors are increasingly becoming interested in taking such shortcuts to find their next dates. Casual dating apps and flirt websites like Tinder and Badoo are therefore among the fastest growing in The Netherlands. [1]
What will the future of online dating be in the Netherlands?
Well, fortunately, dating experts from Imperial College Business School and eHarmony.co.uk shared a report in November 2015 [2] in which they explored the future of dating by using more than 100 years of trend data and interviews with experts in the field of anthropology, sociology, technology and biomedicine.
The report suggests that in 25 years Virtual Reality will be so advanced that “full-sensory virtual dates will feel like real ones. You will be able to feel someone’s hand and smell their fragrance from the comfort of your home.
That means that you could virtually meet someone online before you meet him or her in the real world. This will open up a global dating pool of people to meet, and with advances in wearable technology, you and your date will be able to feel and “touch” each other from anywhere in the world. [3]
Advancements in the Internet of Things and the growing popularity of wearable technology will replace personality questionnaires for behavior-based matching. Live reactions, neural signals in your brain, and even DNA data will be used for helping you to find your better half. [4]
In addition, big data and machine learning will help you on deciding which long-term life decisions to take such us when to get married, how many children to have or even on day-to-day decisions. Similarly, artificial intelligence will also be able to provide relationship advice and real-time feedback for couples by identifying problems and solutions. [5]
References:
[1] http://www.datinginsider.nl/research-on-dating-market-in-the-netherlands-more-than-20-had-a-relationship-that-started-online
[2] http://www.eharmony.co.uk/dating-advice/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/eHarmony.co_.uk-Imperial-College-Future-of-Dating-Report-20401.pdf
[3] http://www.eharmony.co.uk/dating-advice/dating/experts-predict-what-dating-will-be-like-by-2040
[4] https://www.wareable.com/wearable-tech/the-future-of-dating-667
[5] https://www.eharmony.co.uk/future-of-dating
Interesting post Sergio. I agree that dating will be digitalized, as we can connect with people across the world easier. It will be interesting to see if artificial intelligence will be applied, suggesting matches between individuals based on what our online behavior says about our personality. I can imagine Google and Facebook eventually being able to step into this realm as they have a significant amount of data about our online behavior, and what that says about our personality.