Since the dawn of time, human beings have been cleverly considering all of the possible ways they can appeal to each other romantically. Men and women competing for the affections of other men and/or women in search of true love, a mate to have children with, or just rub up against. Today's statistics on marriage and dating reflect a preference for casting a wider net via online dating when it comes to finding lasting love or a love for tonight.
Sounds pretentious. Swipe left.
However, the basic idea of casting such a wide net in a public forum addressing anyone who cares to read your desperate memo has existed since the Age of Enlightenment. During the 1700s and 1800s, men and women posted a variety of personal ads in their respective newspapers.
Obviously they weren't even connecting to AOL yet when the concept of using personal ads to attract potential mates was first used, but there is a good amount of technology peppered in the rich history of online dating. People were placing personal ads as long as 300 years ago. The ads of yesteryear were much more specific than our traditionally lie-laced Okcupid profiles. Some of these old chaps didn't even care about looks! Others were deadset on finding someone literate. Perhaps we can learn something from the daters of yesteryear. They were all married by age 20, right?
However, more traditional online dating actually existed far earlier than 1995. In the 1960s, a matchmaking device called “Project TACT” could analyze independent surveys to calculate your best potential love matches.
Project TACT was an acronym for Technical Automated Compatibility testing and was pioneered in New York City's Upper East Side by a former programmer for IBM and an accountant. For five dollars, you could complete a 100 question survey and have a computer analyze your answers and pair you with your best possible match living in your boro, much like what we know today as Ok Cupid, or Eharmony.
