Users of online dating services increasingly turning to smartphone apps

AS online dating sites move from the computer to the smart phone, an increasing number of Aussies are finding love the new-fashioned way.

30/05/2014 RANDWICK-Dating app Tinder. Martyne Anderson is a 31 year old HR consultant at UNSW. Photo: Hollie Adams

IF you’re lonely and internet-connected, then you’re in very good company.

Millions of Australians are looking for love online, with one of the biggest names in internet dating about to crack 2.5 million Aussie members.

But a growing number of potential daters are also reaching for their phones — not to call a date but to make a match through one of a rising number of dating apps.

The Australian online dating scene has now grown into a $108 million industry, according to an IBISWorld report. It is predicted that the industry will break the $130 million barrier in four years.

The “negative public perception” around online dating has diminished, the Dating Services in Australia report found, to reveal a “growing” industry.

“As consumers become increasingly time-poor, the ability to partially outsource the search for dates has grown exponentially appealing,” it reads.

But online dating is also undergoing change as its users move from the big screen on their desks to the small screen in their pockets.

Blue Label Life relationship expert and matchmaker Samantha Jayne says dating apps are getting a lot of attention in Australia following Tinder’s September launch.

“Have a look on a busy bus or train — people are looking at their phones, they’re consumed by their smartphones,” Ms Jayne says.

“(Dating apps) make sense because people are time-poor and don’t really read through a profile unless they like the person’s photo,” she says.

“If that photo is terrible, they move on.”

Dating apps not only address time-poor users, but also take advantage of social networks to suggest connections and of GPS data to recommend nearby suitors.

Tinder, an app from the owner of Match.com, is one of the new breed. It lets users sign in with Facebook credentials and pulls photos from their profile. Users are shown photos of potential dates and asked to swipe left to reject them or right to chat. Worldwide, the app makes two million matches daily.

Seeing the trend, leading online dating websites are also releasing apps.

eHarmony, which is about to break the 2.5 million member mark in Australia, has released three apps in Australia, including Bad Date Rescue to plot an escape route, and Compatible Partnerfor gay and lesbian matches. Similarly, OKCupid and Zoosk services are available in app form too.

But Jayne warns this new approach does not suit everyone, and some may benefit from coaching to improve their chances.

“A lot of fantastic people miss out because they don’t know how to take a good photo,” she says.

“Nothing beats the old ‘hi, hello’ meeting, face to face.”

Originally published as Users of online dating services increasingly turning to smartphone apps