From Dial-Up to Swipe-Right: The Evolution of the Online Dating Industry

The online dating industry over the past 25 years has changed how Americans interact romantically in the digital space. From the end of the dot-com bubble, through the fast rise of social media, and into the exponential growth of smartphone usage, the online dating industry has adapted to trends as customers seek new ways to find romantic connections. With the decrease in social stigma and the evolution of complementary technologies, the online dating industry has been able to grow and evolve into a ubiquitous environment filled with niche offerings for finding love. It has remained unscathed from government regulations even as conglomeration has consolidated dozens of smaller companies and decreased competition over time.

This research was completed for my master's capstone project at New York University. As part of the capstone, we were asked to choose an industry, find turning points in its history and use course concepts learned throughout our program to analyze the industry holistically. Read the final capstone on Google Docs.

1: Thought Process - Choosing the right industry

Week 1 - 2

Much of the initial thought process in this Capstone boiled down to industry data and interest. Three of my top picks were Online Dating, Content Creation (influencer) industry, and earphone/headphone industry.

2: Breaking down each turning point

Weeks 3 - 6

During the next few weeks, I spent researching individual turning points and specifics in the industry. View an example of weekly presentations below:

With a culmination of weekly progress reports and research done, I was well on my way in finishing my capstone.

3: Eureka, a new turning point!

Weeks 6 - 8

By this point, I have done large chunks of research for my capstone. I had reached a dead end. While three turning points in the industry felt sufficient for my capstone, I had a feeling there was more.

Therefore, I decided to do some investigative analysis, this finding my last turning point.

As some background:

• 1998 - Match.com bought and sold by various parent companies until being sold to its parent company, InterActiveCorp (IAC)

• 2008 - IAC broke up into five companies after a court battle, with IAC keeping Match.com and Ask.com.

• 2009 – IAC created Match Group

The turning point in 2009 became that IAC Acquired PeopleMedia for $80 million into its Match Group subsidiary.

From here, the company expanded its market share in the industry, going to almost 20% by 2010 (up from 5% in 2009). This acquisition strategy ultimately allowed the parent company to gain a market share in 2022 of 40.1%.

View Week 8's progress report.

5: Write, write and away!

Weeks 9 - 11

At this point and since Week 6, writing took much of my time. Most importantly, converting pages and pages of research into coherent text became my norm. Fitting it into 10 pages became my challenge!

Dotting my i's and crossing my t's, I finished my capstone a few days before the deadline. As many graduate students did, I ran it my friends and by Grammarly, and by my tired eyes many times. I ultimately submitted around a day before the deadline, and I breathed a final sigh of relief.