Online dating has rapidly become one of the most common ways of meeting a partner. 20% of straight couples today have met online – which pales in comparison to the 70% of their gay counterparts. In this day and age, more than ever before, time is money: impatience to move things along is the norm, and, rightly or wrongly, the romance of the eyes meeting across the room is becoming increasingly less common.
Online dating is, in many ways, a highly efficient way of meeting people, especially for gay men. But the lack of truly meaningful face-to-face contact can only bring a number of downsides.
Numerous relationship studies conducted since the advent of dating apps have shown time and again that, all variables being equal, single people who are not on dating apps have greater life satisfaction and wellbeing than single people who are. Dating app users are exposed to what is known in philosophy as the tyranny of choice: too many potential partners can create an indefinite (and therefore harmful) expectation of each partner being ‘more perfect’ than the last.
The algorithms utilised by online dating platforms are advanced and undoubtedly highly intricate, but there is an inevitable limit to how extensively they can really represent a person’s values and character, the quirks that make them whom they are. But there is an alternative available to gay men – and it’s entirely offline.
Matchmaking is a traditional practice; in some senses, the concept of setting up two complementary singletons who know you but who don’t know each other is as old as time. Matchmaking provides a warm, personable service; your personal matchmaker gets to know your wants, needs and long-term aspirations when it comes to romance. At Maclynn (formerly Vida), we understand the trials and tribulations of being a gay man looking for that special someone – and we are here to help.
Bespoke, high-end, boutique matchmaking has many advantages for the high-flying gay gentleman. Your matchmaker will be an objective, unbiased voice, providing guidance and advice all through your journey towards finding love. We work closely with every single one of our clients, and our expertise and professionalism are reflected in our remarkable 85% success rate. In stark contrast, online dating brings with it a level of unpredictability: you can never be 100% sure that the man on the other end truly is whom he says he is. And even if he is, pictures can be deceiving to say the least. Some statistics assert that as many as one in three photographs used on online-dating platforms are, in one way or another, misrepresentative.
A 2012 study headed by Northwestern social psychologist Professor Eli J. Finkel found that, the more people who invest financially in looking for love, whether by means of online dating or matchmaking, the more seriously they take it. This study perfectly encapsulates what we at Maclynn (formerly Vida) stand for: the honest, heartfelt, passionate quest for true love.
Matchmaking and online dating represent the bookends of the spectrum of outsourcing one’s romantic wellbeing to a third party. Where online dating can be impersonal and liable to inducing sore, swipe-happy thumbs, matchmaking offers a personable, human approach. For one, whilst there is no denying the importance of physical attraction, the matchmaker will consult their client first with the backstory of the potential match: what are their values, principles, beliefs, and how well do they complement those of the client? In doing so, a client will form a more realistic image in their head, and get to ‘know’ the person. Numerous studies have shown that people who moved online in the search for love became increasingly concerned with partner traits they had not previously held in such high regard, particularly regarding appearance, in comparison to those who did not use online platforms. What was proved to be much more important to the offline daters was what values were held by their matches.
If you’re a gay man looking for love, why not get in touch and let us weave our matchmaking magic? At Maclynn (formerly Vida), we have an exclusive network of some of the world’s most exceptional gay men, all waiting to meet that special someone. Contact us today – find the man of your dreams tomorrow.
