How couples meet in the US

This is really a monumental societal change.
3rd spaces are nearly completely destroyed, and online seems to be the main option for ppl now.

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Third spaces are, I think, an important part of society. It provides an avenue for hearing other opinions and getting outside the echo chamber.
Is the bar or a church the best place to hear or share a dissenting opinion?
No, but no two people agree on entirely everything so a bit of discussion helps people see that it’s ok not to sycophantically repeat what their influencer hero says.
- I fully agree with you. There's a reason why people that are terminally online often have pretty extreme ideas.
  It really feels like it's getting more and more difficult to have a good discussion where you can disagree on something but still talk to each other about it. People are in their echo chambers and the dissonance of that to the opinion of someone else is so large that they can't do anything but call it fake or wrong.

for some reason seeing the plummet of "through friends" makes me really sad
- Nearly everyone I dated or hooked up with, including my wife, were through friends. It was a great way to hang out and get to know each other before just doing one on one stuff.
  I knew it was going to go down, but holy hell that is a massive drop and I don't know if that means through friends wasn't as good as I remember compared to online or if people just aren't bothering with introducing people anymore.
  
  I'll bet that it's due to the trend we've seen in the last couple of decades: fewer close friends, if any at all.

I don't think there's a "right" way, people adapt to how our society functions. Proud to be part of the few at the beginning of the red line, met on Q-Link and we're still together, so it can work. I would say "online" should be broken into separate lines, as there's different ways to meet online, and some of them let you interact and "know" a person better than others, like dating apps (which also existed before the internet!)
- Q-Link
  Now, that's a blast from the past!
  I agree that "online" is too much of a generalization. There definitely needs to be a differentiation between people meeting each other in an online meeting space not specifically set up for dating vs. a dating app or website which is specially looking to match people up.
  If you meet on a forum or other type of social environment that is not specifically for dating, is it really much different than meeting at a bar or a bowling alley?

I met my partner at the dog park. I had just moved back to the city and she had just started taking her puppy to the park. My dog is 8 years older than her dog.
We didn't know until months later but she started going at the same time so she would see me and I was going at the same time so I would see her. We've been together for nearly 9 years.
Some third spaces are very specialized for certain activities but that is a bonus because something like a dog park means you already have common interest.

How does the graph look after 2020? Because around that time Tinder died.
- People stopped meeting and instead are glued to TikTok now.

I was about to disagree as the last couple of women I've gone home with I've met at the bar.
Then I remembered that "oh yeah, those were one night stands, not coupling. Last couple of relationships definitely started on the apps."
BUT, I will say that at least three couples (one has recently graduated to marriage!) on my various soccer teams met on the team or through team friends. So there's still sort of hope!

Eh well I met my hubby sixteen years ago from a crummy online app, so...
Guess it works sometimes. Let's see the graph showing how many actually stay together though.

Right when I'm finally comfortable talking to women I just met and am interested in. Great.

Meet = tinder date. Which means you have to look good or not get the chance to meet a woman at all.

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