Why Dudes Love Online Dating

When I first started my business, Expert Online Dating, it was to help men understand how they could best court women in the digital space. I was fascinated by the habits of the opposite sex, especially with regard to pursuing a woman online. So, when a little bird sent me some data on a recent study focusing on men and online dating, she was right that I would sit up and devour the information.

Let's look at this data on men and see if the information it implies changes any ways that we online date, or date in general. Why are men online dating? What do they think of it? How do their thoughts and habits effect women?

In a recent study conducted by Harris Interactive for AnastasiaDate.com, a group of 1,000 men were polled on their thoughts on online dating. The men ranged in ages from 35-55. Over half of the men had tried online dating, and of those who tried, over 65 percent had actually met someone through the medium.

Asked why online dating is advantageous, the responses make sense intrinsically. For example, over half of respondents noted that online dating is great because:

• It allows you to know that another person is available and interested;
• There are a variety of potential matches to chose from;
• Having a personal profile lets people know what their interests are; and
• You can determine whether or not you want to meet someone before committing to a date.

Did you realize these were all strong advantages to online dating? If you've done online dating or are considering it, you may have thought these things to yourself. They could have been the selling points to get you to join. These advantages aren't gender specific, but they are the driving force behind why online dating exists.

What I found interesting is what lies behind why a lot of the men join online dating sites in the first place. Of those that have tried online dating, over half of them agreed that they tried it because it is much more difficult to meet a potential date in person. Over half! That's amazing. Keep reading ...

More dating advice from YourTango:

• Ladies, You Need To Watch Out For These Online Dating Red Flags
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• What Is Mobile Dating? Should I Try It?

It means these men are struggling in real life and thought this medium would be more useful. Are these men just too shy? Or are they looking for something specific that can't be known when they approach IRL (in real life)?

• 25 percent of all respondent said that are most likely to fail at in person dating/approaching because they don't go out enough;
• 25 percent of respondents said that they are too nervous to talk to someone they're interested in when they are out; and
• Men were more likely than women to be nervous talking to woman in this situation.

Let's digest that stuff a little bit. A lot of men are at home. They are not going out. A large portion of men are shy, insecure and/or inhibited.

It seems there are a lot of eligible men who want to be dating but are not pursuing it in their real life situations either because they are too nervous, too shy or not going out enough to do it. Have men lost their drive to meet women in person? Is it because they are unwilling to spend much money on finding love, with 96% of respondents saying they wouldn't spend anywhere near 1,000 dollars to meet someone they'd want to date.

Is staying on the couch the new courting behavior because it's cheap and easy? Maybe. Or maybe these men have always existed and online dating is giving them lifeline that wouldn't exist otherwise to actually meet a date.

Do these stats correlate with what you've experienced from men and online dating? Are there more shy men? Does online dating give shy men more access to dates? Or has online dating made men more shy IRL?