What to expect from online dating in the coming years

Over the course of its existence, online dating has undergone many changes — both positive and negative. And if you look at how rapidly it’s developing today, it’s very difficult to predict how it will develop next. After all, technology really doesn’t stand still, and the needs of modern users have become much more broad. Nevertheless, we’re going to attempt to make some predictions. First though, we need to go back a little and look at how web dating developed originally.

A brief history of online dating and popular platforms

Before the advent of the internet, a kind of forerunner of web dating was dating through printed publications and special dating services. They began to gain popularity back in the 1960s. However, if we’re looking at the more familiar format of online dating, it dates back to the 90s. Specifically 1995, when the dating site Match.com was launched. From this moment on, the online dating industry begins to develop very quickly.

Soon new dating sites began to appear, but at first they did not arouse much interest. Social networks — Facebook. MySpace and others — turned out to be much more popular. It was here that hundreds of thousands of people in the 2000s met, communicated, had fun online and arranged meetups in the real world. At the same time, traditional dating sites were also developing, but with wider functionality than Match.com, attracting more and more user interest.

However, the real peak in popularity of online dating came in the 2010s, when mobile dating apps began to appear en masse. Users no longer needed to be tied to computers or laptops. Now everything they needed was at their fingertips — right there in the app. Tinder became the undisputed leader at that time, captivating its audience with many benefits:

• Simplicity of use and intuitiveness
• Well implemented gamification elements
• Accessibility for the vast majority of users
• Location-based matches, allowing you to meet people nearby

Tinder opened up completely new opportunities for internet users, making online dating convenient, simple and accessible. However, at the same time, another format was rapidly gaining momentum — online video chat.

The first sites — Omegle and Chatroulette — were launched in 2009 and very quickly gained worldwide popularity. The daily number of users often exceeded two million people. Therefore, it’s not surprising that very soon plenty of alternatives began to appear — dozens of popular random video chat sites, which we’ll talk about in more detail a little later.

What the best in web dating can offer today

So let’s move from the past to the present and see what online dating can offer us right now.

Wide range of platforms and applications for different purposes

The choice is truly huge — both for serious relationships and for informal communication. The most popular include Tinder, Badoo, OkCupid, Hinge, and many others. Most of these dating platforms are, let’s say, “universal services” designed for the widest possible audience. But there are also a lot of niche dating sites and apps — for vegetarians and vegans, for travelers, for gamers, etc. Thanks to this, everyone can find something interesting for themselves.

Convenient systems for finding partners using specific criteria

On most modern dating apps, you can search for potential partners by gender, age, list of interests and other parameters. Of course, this does not guarantee one hundred percent success, but it still narrows the search circle and helps you find the most interesting chat partners. If the platform you choose provides these search filters, we recommend using them.

Communication in videochat almost anywhere

In the 90s and early 2000s, internet speeds could hardly be called high. Therefore, video communication remained rare at that time. But as time went on, the internet became not only more accessible, but also faster. Also, mobile networks accelerated greatly, making it possible to enjoy all the benefits of web dating directly on your smartphone. That is why the number of popular online video chat apps has also grown rapidly.

• Camsurf

Camsurf — a fairly popular online chat with gender and geographic filters to refine your search. You simply indicate your desired parameters, and the system tries to select the most suitable chat partners for you. Of course, this does not work with one hundred percent accuracy, but in general such settings are very useful.

Other advantages of Camsurf include the following:

• High video and sound quality
• Stable connection
• Search for chat partners based on interests
• Apps for iOS and Android
• Support for video communication and text chat

However, the main advantages of Camsurf are revealed if the user has a premium account. In this case, you can hide your location, use more refined search settings, add a welcome message to attract the attention of potential chat partners, and even collect followers for your social media accounts.

Otherwise, this is a classic random online chatroulette, the main function of which is to connect random chat partners via video, providing the opportunity to communicate on a range of topics. If you don’t need flexible search settings and want to start chatting as quickly as possible without any hassle, Camsurf is definitely your choice.

• CooMeet

CooMeet — another great CamSurf alternative that provides users with not just an extensive range of features but also the highest level of service. It has one of the best moderation systems online, and a top quality support service 24/7. Other important advantages include:

• Error-free gender filter
• Convenient apps for iOS and Android
• Choice of communication language and built-in message translator
• Stories feature similar to Instagram
• Original affiliate program

The main attraction for CooMeet users is the aforementioned gender filter. It really never makes mistakes, since all girls verify their identities when registering. Accordingly, the system knows exactly how to connect a man with a girl. This also eliminates the appearance of fake accounts, bots, etc. on the platform. Communication becomes more enjoyable and safer, and the risks of encountering scams or attacks are reduced almost to zero.

If you are a man and want to chat only with girls, CooMeet is definitely your choice. To confirm this, you can take advantage of the free trial period that video chat provides to all new users.

Advanced security and privacy settings

In the past, the web dating industry has suffered from very poor moderation. And some platforms were not moderated at all. Today, fortunately, this is a thing of the past. Now online dating provides a lot of tools to ensure security and privacy:

• The ability to hide or show only certain users your photos, name, age, location and other information.
• Features that blur or hide the background of a photo so as not to give away personal information.
• Blocking users, hiding from searches and views. Protection against unwanted messages.
• Checking users by their phone number or social networks for  being fake.
• Encryption of messages and confidential text messaging, protection against hacking and leakage of personal data.
• Ability to quickly report suspicious behavior of another user.

Of course there are still quite a few dating services where moderation and security protection are not of a high enough level. But overall the situation is constantly improving.

Use of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is becoming a truly widespread phenomenon that covers all sorts of areas of our lives. This includes the online dating industry. Today AI is used in dating in the following ways:

• Smart algorithms for selecting a match based on common interests, values and dating goals.
• Analysis of preferences and personal characteristics for more accurate recommendations.
• The ability to set preferences for an ideal partner, and the AI will select the most suitable candidates.
• Use of chatbots for preliminary matching assessment and assistance in communication.
• Automatic analysis of conversations to identify warning signs if a partner is behaving suspiciously.
• Collecting feedback on the quality of dating and adjusting matching pair algorithms based on the data received.

These, of course, are just some of the ways AI can be used in web dating. There are many more. And in the future these possibilities will expand even more.

How online dating will develop in the foreseeable future

Well, now let’s try to guess how web dating will develop in the near future. Despite a certain unpredictability of technologies and trends, certain forecasts can still be made now.

• Videochats will become an even more aspect of online dating. We’re seeing this today, but in the future, having built-in video chat will become an indispensable element of any dating service.
• Apps for video communication with elements of augmented reality will be developed. For example, it will be possible to virtually go to a movie, restaurant or amusement park with your chat partner. Again, there are already developments in this direction. They just haven’t become widespread yet.
• Services for video speed dating will appear — where users cook food together, play sports or play online games while video chatting. This will make communication more natural and interesting, help you relax and feel more confident. Such activities can already be implemented in classic chat roulettes.
• Artificial intelligence will help select ideal matches for video dates based on an analysis of users’ personalities, interests and goals. There is no doubt that the scope of AI use in the online dating industry will actively expand.
• Virtual reality applications will appear to completely immerse yourself in the environment of a date — for example, a candlelit dinner on the seashore or a walk through the city at night. A striking example is VRChat, which already actually offers a prototype of the metaverse. Yes, it’s still far from perfect, but the future lies with such projects.

Of course, it’s quite possible that the development of online dating will ultimately take a completely different path, and our assumptions will only partially come true. But for now we’re content with our predictions.

Online dating is evolving

The modern internet space is changing. This is noticeable even to the casual user. Until quite recently, artificial intelligence and neural networks were simply the stuff of science fiction. Yet today, thanks to ChatGPT or Midjourney, they are available to absolutely everyone. Soon something similar will no doubt 

await us with virtual and augmented reality technologies. So far, these technologies are too expensive for the average user and are far from perfect. But this will change very soon.

In any case, if you want to get the most out of web dating, you need to study new trends now, take advantage of fresh opportunities and make best use of everything they offer — from online video chats to artificial intelligence. After all, today the person who can truly keep their finger on the pulse wins.