Study Shows Americans Love To Creep Their Dates Online Before Meeting Them
Don't deny it. You've definitely used social media or Google to creep a date at some point in your dating history. We don't blame you! First dates are stressful enough, especially when you have no idea who the person is. It turns out you're not alone in your online creeping according to a recent study.
A study by JPD surveyed 2,000 Americans to see how they research their dating matches. It turns out 77% of Americans research their matches on a regular basis through online dating. Most of those who do some creeping spend 15 to 30 minutes conducting their investigations. Some admit to spending 45 minutes or more on research before a date. Only 11% said they never research their dates at all.
The most common time people look up their dates is after they've messaged back and forth already, but before the first date. However, there is still a significant number of people who start their dating FBI research before they've even spoken. 33% said they start their investigations before they've even contacted a new match.
When it comes to where they do their research, Facebook is the number one source for info. 88% of people surveyed use the social media platform. Behind Facebook is Google with 77% of people using it, 53% using Instagram, 29% using Twitter and 21% using LinkedIn. Desperate times call for desperate measures my friends, sometimes LinkedIn is your only option.
63% even admitted to looking most of the way or all of the way back on their date's profile. Women proved twice as likely as men to look at the whole profile. One in four people has even used a picture and reverse-image searched their date. Other topics to investigate include names, phone numbers, usernames, hometowns, schools, and places of work.
One of the most interesting things about the study is that when asked if they would be embarrassed if their date knew they researched them beforehand, most people said no. Would you be embarrassed or is is the new normal in the dating world?
