Online Romance Day – May 14, 2025

History of Online Romance Day

The concept of dating has evolved an incredible amount over time. Initially, ‘dating’ meant a brief, often chaperoned, courtship that ended in marriage arrangements. As time went on and we shrugged off antiquated, rigid courtship practices, dating became a way to bond and spend time with people you were romantically attracted to. In the past few decades, the advent of the internet has rapidly changed the media through which people get to know each other. From the earlier forms of chat rooms and mailing lists to modern dating sites like Bumble, Tinder, and okCupid, online dating is fast becoming part of the mainstream.

The origin of what we now call ‘online dating’ is far more analog than one might assume. The roots of the practice can be found in personal ads in newspapers and works of art carved into tree barks. Technological advancements, though, took the human quest for love into the digital space. The 1965 Operation Match became the world’s first dating service, allowing people to fill out questionnaires and receive a list of potential matches, Match.com was founded in 1995. By 2007, online dating was the second most popular online paid service.

By the 2010s, online dating forums, sites, and apps were present across the globe — available to people of all genders, sexualities, locales, and communities. Today, online dating is a well-established part of the mainstream, arguably encroaching on the space earlier occupied by offline dating.