For Americans age 50+ looking to get back into the dating scene, AARP has launched an online dating service. This new service, says AARP, "gives older adults a chance to date in a way that resonates with what they know: going out on dates."
Debuting with AARP’s dating service is a new dating content channel with tools, resources, and expert advice on modern dating and relationships.
“More and more 50+ singles are using Internet dating sites and we want to provide a comfortable environment for them to get out and take a chance on love again or go on fun dates,” said Myrna Blyth, editorial director of AARP’s media division.
“More and more 50+ singles are using Internet dating sites and we want to provide a comfortable environment for them to get out and take a chance on love again or go on fun dates,” said Myrna Blyth, editorial director of AARP’s media division.
The AARP Dating site can be accessed at dating.aarp.org and gives visitors a 7-day free trial.
In addition to the various articles, tips and resources available to users they can also get advice from dating experts Ken Solin and Nancy Kelton from a “he said, she said” point of view. Both will contribute regular articles to the AARP Dating channel and interact with members of AARP’s online singles community.
Various studies have found that older adults are the fastest growing segment of online-dating services and the results from a new AARP online dating survey of adults age 50+ show that older Americans are not only open to dating online, but they’re looking for a serious relationship (48%) and friendship/companionship (26%); 14% of respondents say they are using online dating for casual dating.
AARP conducted an online survey of 1,000 single adults age 50+ over a five day period in October 2012 to gauge their views on dating and see what’s driving them to or away from online dating. The following are results from this survey:
The top three reasons why people over 50 have tried an online dating site are:
- They are able to meet a broader range of people (23%)
- There is no pressure/they don’t have to reply or talk to people they don’t want to (20%)
- A friend recommended it (14%)
Of note, women are significantly more likely to try online dating based on a recommendation from a friend as compared to men (18% vs. 9%); and men say they ‘don’t have time to go out and meet people the traditional way’ as one of the top three reasons why they use online dating sites (14%) versus a friend recommended it (9%). Additionally, significantly more men (12%) try it because it seemed like it would be fun as compared to women (7%).
- Those age 50-59 are looking for a serious relationship compared to those age 60-69 (53% vs. 43%).
- Those 60-69 want friendship/companionship versus those 50-59 (34% vs. 20%).
The survey also found that men are significantly more likely to say that online dating does not fit their lifestyle compared to women (27% vs. 13%), and women are significantly more likely to say it is too risky to talk to strangers online compared to men (16% vs. 7%).
The complete survey results can be found online at http://www.aarp.org/home-family/dating/info-12-2012/online-dating-sites-survey.html.
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