A moment in history — the first modern dating site was launched in 1995. It was Match.com. To better understand the era, the speed of the Internet through a dial-up modem in the nineties was only 56 Kbps. Of course, with such speeds, there could be no question of video calls, or even comfortable voice communication.
At the beginning of the 2000s, the situation started to change rapidly. The Internet began to increase speed in most countries, and online services, including dating sites, started to use this to their advantage.
For clarity, here are the average Internet connection speeds in different countries in 2022:
- Monaco — 192.68 Mbps
- Hong Kong — 173.42 Mbps
- USA — 143.76 Mbps
- Japan — 112.9 Mbps
- United Kingdom — 61.69 Mbps
The slowest internet connections are in Afghanistan (1.62 Mbps), Turkmenistan (1.89 Mbps) and Cuba (1.9 Mbps).
In addition to the increase in connection speeds, we’re seeing a simultaneous decrease in the cost of accessing the network. In the nineties and at the beginning of the 2000s, there were practically no unlimited tariffs. Access to the Web was often provided by cards with restrictions on number of megabytes or access time. And they were very expensive. In some countries, unlimited corporate tariffs were even introduced for ridiculous money. How do you like, for example, a tariff of 8 Mbps for a month at a price of $20,000?
So what are we leading up to…?
The fact that, in the past, text correspondence was the only way for most users to get acquainted and communicate on the Web. But today there are many more options. So why do so many still stubbornly communicate only by text? And why is it wrong? Let’s figure that out!
When texting is good and when it’s bad
Text messages on social networks, messengers or dating apps are convenient when you need to quickly tell a person something literally “on the fly” and at the same time not distract them from personal matters. Or, for example, when you’re in a crowded place where it’s simply inconvenient to talk. But in other situations, it is better to give precedence to a video call or at least an audio call. And it’s not just about convenience.
Many modern psychologists report that people who communicate only by texting “get stuck” at this stage and do not move on to the next stage. Moreover, text messages do not contribute to socialization. On the contrary, over time they can make any live communication uncomfortable for a person.
In addition, some specialists in the field of relationship psychology note other disadvantages of texting:
- By communicating only in text chat, you can’t understand the mood of the other person, their real motives or desires.
- You can’t predict how your relationship will develop in the future.
- It’s very difficult to build the correct interactions with the other person and achieve your aims.
A good option for dating on the Internet — start with texting, and then move on to voice or video chat as soon as possible. You’ll speed up the acquaintance, get to know the other person better and be able to decide more quickly whether you want to develop relations with them further or not.
Already there are dating apps that have completely abandoned text chat. A striking example is String. On it you can’t text at all, only send voice messages! And in fact, such a restriction is only for the benefit of users — dating is much faster and more convenient.
Why lengthy texting is a road to nowhere
There’s a theory among psychologists and specialists in the field of human relations that the longer people communicate only by texting, the less their chances of a real meeting and further development of relations. In recent years, this theory has been increasingly confirmed.
Texting for many becomes essentially an “end point”, followed by nothing else, just ending communication when this format exhausts itself. And, of course, it’s not worth it.
Here it’s necessary to mention the category of users who intend to communicate only via text, often from fake accounts, to create a fake identity for themselves. They absolutely do not need a real meeting or the development of a relationship. By creating an alternative version of themselves on the Internet and getting your attention, they are asserting themselves. Nothing more. So you’re wasting your time, texting day after day with someone who doesn’t really exist. You must agree this is a good reason to refuse text in favor of video.
We should add that the speed of mobile Internet in most modern countries today is high enough to comfortably communicate via video from literally anywhere in the city. And with the deployment of high-speed 5G networks, the situation will become even better. It is likely that soon video chat will support video in 4K resolution. Whether that is necessary or not is another question, but the trend is positive.
Online video chat: making online dating better!
When the first anonymous online video chat sites appeared in 2009, they were a real revolution. For Internet users of that time, this was a completely new format — the ability to start a video chat with a random person in one click and communicate on almost any topic. It is curious that even now, after more than 12 years, the format hasn’t lost its relevance and continues to grow an active audience.
If you also think that texting is a thing of the past, it’s time to pay attention to popular video chat sites. For example, Chat Alternative or OmeTV — simple and minimalist video chat with gender and geographic filters. Or video chat on coomeet.com — a site that connects men only with girls, and they must verify their identity to eliminate fakes. Other interesting video chat sites include Chatspin — minimalist web chat with a gender filter, AR masks and an emphasis on security. And for owners of iOS devices, we can recommend the minimalist online video chat Nowcha, which offers a gender filter.
Of course, we’ve named only a few popular random video chats. There are many more. Online at the moment there are about eight thousand dating services for every taste. So you can easily find the one that suits you best. With text chat, audio messages, video call function and so on.
Text is no longer the future
It’s nice to see how developers are increasingly realizing that texting is no longer the most effective and convenient communication format on the Internet. Dating sites and applications are actively introducing online video chat functionality, video calls are available in all popular instant messengers, and even social networks are increasingly focusing on video communication.
We believe video is the future. And if we add here VR and AR technologies, which are now developing at an incredible pace, we will soon see completely new formats of online communication. We’re looking forward to even more interesting new products, but for now we recommend that you check out video chats and try the chat roulette format if you’re still not familiar with it. We guarantee you’ll love it!
