Dating apps and social media platforms have done a pretty good job of demolishing the apparent boundaries between our ‘real’ lives and the endless pool of strangers occupying the space known as ‘on line’, and a new raft of statistics suggests some Australian singles are prepared to have a cyber-sleuth while actually on a date.
According to a new survey of 1,000 punters commissioned by smartphone manufacturer Huawei, 8% of Australians think it’s a-okay to scope out someone’s social media profiles in the middle of a date itself. If you’re in a public space, have a look around: nearly one of every ten people you spot would apparently be down to trawl through your Instagram as you sit right in front of ’em.
The statistics regarding social media ‘research’ on either side of a date also also seem to confirm we’re a nosy bunch: 80% of respondents said they gathered intel before a date, and 45% admitted they’re liable to investigate the other person after hanging out.
Almost a third of respondents said taking a selfie with their date is an acceptable course of action (editor’s note: the author of this article feels physically sick at the concept of doing so), while nearly half agree that showing their date a photo on their phone is a good and proper thing to do in the course of a meet-up.
Notably, 12% of folks seem to believe whipping out their phone to take a snap of their food or drinks is fine.
We’ll let you ruminate on these statistics to determine if your behaviour matches the statistical norms. If it doesn’t, well, good luck explaining why you accidentally liked their beach photo from 2013 during the three minutes they spent in the loo.
