If you’ve been reading us regularly (and we sincerely hope you do), you’ve probably figured we’re big on technology jumpstarting your dating life. Between the various dating websites and apps focused on relationships and sex, we’re all looking for love (in all its beautiful and twisted forms), but the way we look for it has changed due to the Internet and the necessity of smart phones.
Clue, together with the Kinsey Institute, conducted one of the largest surveys on sex and relationships, spanning 198 countries, 140,000 responses, and 15 languages to find out how exactly our love lives and bedroom activities are affected by technology. Here are a few results that offered a fresh insight when it comes to relationships and how we might need to second guess our notions about hook-up culture.
#1 The look of love
A hopeless romantic will find joy in a few of the results. First of which is how 15 percent of respondents look for a serious relationship. This applies even to respondents between 18 and 20 years old. Nine percent use it not just for hooking up but to find someone to be with for the long haul. Amanda Gesselman, research scientist at the Kinsey Institute said, “Using apps to find either long-term or short-term partners but not friends with benefits, may signal a reliance on tech/apps for either commitment or spontaneity, but not for regular sex with no romantic connection.”
#2 A different appventure
How did you first learn about sex? We all have our own awkward stories along with horrific accounts about web searches gone awry. Phone apps are making our sexual journey a little less weird, apparently. Eighteen percent of the survey’s respondents said they use an app to learn more about sex. At the front runner of sex ed via apps are the Chinese, followed by the Dutch.
#3 Sexting is still hot
LDR? Not into going out to the club and to book a motel? Do you want to wake up in your bed after a steamy night? You’re probably a fan of sexting. A huge 67 percent of all respondents said they have sexted, using either the old-school SMS or Snapchat. No surprises as the people in the 18 to 34-year-old bracket are big sex-over-Snapchat users. This number has gone up from Clue’s previous 2012 survey. From an anomaly in traditional dating norms, sexting is becoming part of the norm “…sexting may be becoming a new, but typical, step in a sexual or romantic relationship.”
#4 Results for: Relationship rules
In the survey 12 percent admitted they use the app to improve their relationships. What to get her on her first anniversary? Cheeky things to do with your long-time partner in the bedroom? It turns out that 23 percent of men fire up their phones to get answers to those questions. Which is a good thing as it promotes learning more about one another and making an effort to discover ways to improve the relationship. So the next time you see your boyfriend on his phone, he might just be looking for the next best way to surprise you.
#5 How many nights in a row?
Do you track your sex life? I was quite taken aback by this factor in the survey results, but apparently, people like carving notches into their bedposts. Filipinos top this part of the results as 52 percent use an app to track sex. But it’s only limited to how many times they do the deed and not so much about health concerns.
#6 Safe spaces
The last part of the survey presents how the LGBT community finds cyberspace a better place to look for partners. Forty-nine percent of homosexual people use apps to find a partner. Oh, and according to the survey, members of the LGBT community get more action than their heterosexual counterparts.
Art by Lara Intong
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