MOSCOW, 11 September 2024. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a monitoring study devoted to online dating.

A move from a like towards love

Based on a recent VCIOM survey the number of Russians who used online dating has increased over the recent six months (19% in 2018 vs 24% today).

Younger millennials use online dating services much often than the digital generation and older millennials: 50% of those born in 1992-2000 vs. 24% across the sample as a whole). The percentages for the other two  post-Soviet generations are 38% and 34% respectively.

Those who embark on online dating look at their circle of friends: 44% of those who have someone in their circle who succeeded in online dating make a similar attempt (vs 14% of those who do not have any friends who succeeded in online dating).

The findings suggest that online dating can hardly lead to a marriage. Those who attempt to fix a love life are largely single Russians and those who live with a partner but not officially married (40%, each). Those who have built a family (married respondents) use dating services less often (18%), meaning they found their spouse somewhere else. Based on a previous year’s study conducted by VCIOM, the most popular places to find love are a circle of friends (43%), work/studies (31%) and hobby clubs (courses) (22%).

Fairy-tale with a happy end

According to the findings, more than a third of Russians know someone in their circle of friends who have arranged their love life using online dating platforms (36%). At the same time, positive experiences with online dating are likely an exclusion (“not numerous” — 28%) than a common thing (“numerous” — 8%). Fifty-six percent of respondents say they know no one in their circle who has a similar experience.

The older the respondent, the more often his/her friends and acquaintances find their romantic partner through conventional dating. Indeed, six in ten Russians belonging to the digital generation (18-23-year-olds) and every second younger millennial (24-32-year-olds) are surrounded by couples who met online (60% and 52% respectively). On the contrary, Russians aged 33 and older say that they do not know anyone in their circle of friends who met online (53-70%).

Online dating: pro et contra

Russian respondents tend to be skeptical about online dating: the share of those who oppose it is larger than the share of those who support it. An August survey reveals that half of respondents have negative perceptions of online dating (51%); 37% are likely negative about it. Perceptions are strongly shaped by past experiences (personal and secondary experiences). Positive perceptions are often reported by those who have attempted to find love online or are familiar with those who have succeeded in it (64% and 59% respectively).

Supporters of online dating often say that “it’s easier to meet people online” (14% of those who perceive them positively; the group share is 36%). Other informative answers include: a wide range of users (12%) and a wide scope of cities and countries (“at a distance/from different countries/cities” 9%). A certain part of those who favor online dating are pragmatic about it; they consider that searching for friends/partners  online is fast  (12%), convenient (9%), and available (6%), whereas for others online dating is a great way to get closer with a person  (9%), to be emancipated (“feel less shy”/ more confident/communicate easily/for introverts”  — 6%, “more frank/ more freedom in communication” — 3%).

Those who are against online dating (51%) say they are often afraid of being scammed (“they lie to themselves/ pretend to be someone else/you can write anything you want, to put any photo/ I don’t  trust it”— 26%, “unsafe/ scammers / cheaters / you can be scammed” — 25%, “ you don’t know who you talk to/shallow communication/ you cannot understand what kind of person you talk to/lack of information” — 18%). A quarter of respondents in this group also prefer live communication which allows for eye and tactile contact (24%).

All-Russian VCIOM-Sputnik telephone survey was conducted August 31, 2024. A total of 1,600 respondents aged 18 and older took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interview, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Key effectiveness indicators, survey of 31 August, 2024:  cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.7717; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0256; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1126. Calculations are based on corporate standard https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/

* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

 ** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.

* In 2018, the question wording was as follows: “Have you happened to use the following ways to arrange your love life?  Meeting people online, on social media, on dating platforms, etc.” The following answers options were proposed: “yes, I’ve had such an experience”, “I haven’t had such an experience”.