The Tam Tam Go! they already saw the phenomenon in 1999 with their song Caught in the net (I gave you all my love @ dot.com, and you @ steal-steal-stole the reason), but surely they did not imagine that 20 years later the flirtation by Internet would have upset the traditional formula : the acquaintance of an acquaintance or a spontaneous in the disco.

"It is much more likely to have an online appointment than through a friend or family member," says the Disintermediating your Friends study published last July by researchers from the Department of Sociology at Stanford University. "In 2009, dating through friends was by far the most common way to meet in heterosexual couples, and this had been the case since the end of World War II. Since 2009, however, dating mediated by friends declined dramatically, while in the online world they kept growing . "

The study focuses exclusively on American heterosexual couples, but it is a good x-ray of the current situation globally. While in 1995 only 2% of couples had met through the internet, in 2017 this figure amounted to 39% . On the other hand, the traditional formula through friends , the one that formed more couples in 1995 (33%), is now less effective than internet and dating apps, with 20%.

Flirting is still as easy or difficult as before, but technologies have made us more lonely and reserved

Carmen Sánchez, psychologist and sexologist

The bar and nightclubs are (or were) other hot spots for the formation of couples, but the story has changed with the rise of apps such as Tinder, Grindr, Bumble, Scruff or Happn. According to Stanford researchers, although in their survey there is an increase in couples who claim to have met in a bar or restaurant, these are people who met on the Internet and subsequently had a first date in person at a bar or other establishment . If we exclude these cases, the bar as a place to meet has plummeted since 1995.

"Flirting is still as easy or difficult as before, like when we did it in a nightclub, but technologies have made us more lonely and reserved people . That is why these applications have been so successful, because there are many people who feel more comfortable behind the screen, "says Carme Sánchez, psychologist and sexologist at the Serrate & Ribal Institute of Urology.

For Tinder, flirting only with people around them was an obstacle that they have managed to jump. "We are solving the original problem: how can I meet people without depending on people I already know? But we are doing it for a whole new generation. Tinder continues to have growth and success because we are covering a powerful human need," they explain from the application. "They no longer feel the pressure to fit within the traditional limits of what it means to go out or flirt : they are paving their own way and we are here to facilitate this adventure . We believe that flirting, dating, sex and marriage will continue to exist because to the fundamental need for love and interaction. But they are different from what they were 50 years ago. "

Swipe , have a match or throw a super like . Tinder has created a new dating vocabulary that spans the more than 190 countries in which it is present. As they point out, every day 26 million matches are made (when two people like each other) and in the seven years of existence of the application there have been more than 30,000 million . But Tinder is not just a dating machine, it is also a money maker.

The platform belonging to the Match Group group (owner of other applications such as Meetic, OKCupid, Match.com ...) is the most downloaded dating app in the world, and also the one with the highest collection, regardless of games . In the first half of the year, thanks to downloads on Google Play and the App Store, Tinder pocketed 497 million dollars, 37% more than in the same period of 2018. Billing of the platform in app stores is greater than that of giants like Netflix, according to the SensorTower monitoring tool. Although it is free, Tinder offers its users two payment options to access more parameters and more users. Tinder Plus, for 21.99 euros per month or 100 euros per year, or Tinder Gold, from 14.99 euros per month if you are under 25 years old. If you are older, you can pay double.

Although prices are high, paid users do not stop growing. " In December 2014 we had zero subscribers, today they exceed five million, " they say. They are 1.5 million more than last year.

Tinder is the pretty girl of Match Group, a celestine who, according to Japanese stock market regulator Nomura, in 2020 will have more than 20% of the online dating market. This sector could be worth 12,000 million dollars next year. And it is now preferred to pay for the choice of an algorithm to heed the recommendation of a friend.

The biggest Internet Palestinians

  • Tinder: a dating machine ... and money. In the first half of the year alone, it has invoiced 497 million dollars, 37% more than the same period of 2018. In its seven years of life, it has generated 30,000 million matches.
  • Grind: aimed primarily at the gay public, was the pioneer in geolocation contact apps. He just turned 10.
  • Bumble: Your priority is to offer a safe community where users can build relationships based on respect. Women take the first step.
  • Scruff: Upload photos and search for other members by location and shared interests. Oriented homosexual, bisexual and transgender.
  • Happn: Allows you to identify who has crossed the street with you through the mobile geolocator and start a conversation through a chat.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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