Are There Advantages to Online Dating Over Speed Dating?

Recently, I have been considering joining a speed-dating group in my community. I have also been considering joining an online dating site. What I would like to know, is which method is best? I feel that speed dating gives me the advantage of being face to face with another person. How could online dating top that?

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with speed dating. However, you should be aware of its shortcomings. While speed dating does allow you to see your potential match face to face, the nature of speed dating makes it almost impossible to get to know anything about the person before you must make a choice. If you contrast that to online dating — where you have greater opportunity to be discriminating — you can appreciate how speed dating is more of an impulse play than anything else.

The majority of dating sites incorporate matchmaking algorithms that help you to screen potential matches. That means that the list of people that are presented to you have already been, to some degree, vetted. Additionally, you have the ability to scrutinize the profile of each potential match prior to engaging in any sort of communication. Likewise, anytime that you receive incoming messages from other members you can scrutinize their profiles before you decide to answer.

The two strongest points about speed dating — excitement and immediacy — can also be obtained via online dating. Some dating sites offer match discovery features that are designed in fun game-like formats.

One also shouldn’t overlook the awkwardness that often comes in speed dating when rejection is involved. In online dating, rejection is less acute. If you don’t like somebody, you can ignore them. Whereas, with speed dating, the fact that you saw them in the eye can create profound feelings of rejection and guilt for some people.

All in all, while we can see the allure of speed dating, we feel that as a practical matchmaking process it is more for show than for substance. Online dating gives you more control and also has a much higher probability of success.

There’s a dating site called SpeedDate you may want to check out. You’ll get the benefits of online dating and speed dating. Here is our full SpeedDate review.