Online Dating Blog

Something that’s been around for a while (especially in Japan) but that I’ve only heard about recently is something called group dating. This works exactly like it sounds it would: a group of single men go out on a date with an equal number of single women.

In many ways, this is something that happens naturally at times but in this case it will be planned. As an example, there are plenty of times where a group of guys and a group of girls end up spending an evening together at a bar or club because one member of each group knew each other. I know that when I was in this type of situation it was always a fun evening. Services that offer this type of dating are aiming to recreate this type of situation through planning instead of by chance.

I wanted to talk about what I’ve found regarding this type of dating and give some opinions. My opinion is that, overall, this does appear to be a very valid option for dating. I assume most people who want to pursue this type of dating will have to do so online as arranging this type of meeting would be difficult other wise.

The Good

• First, you have many opportunities to meet people in a single night. We’ve all been on that bad date where we knew within the first few minutes that it just wasn’t going to work out. On a group date, even when you have this feeling you may have four or five more chances to meet someone you do get along with that night.
• You should get a better feel for the people you’re meeting as they should be more comfortable while with their friends. This is nice as on many first dates nerves can cause some people to give very bad (and incorrect) first impressions.
• Some claim this provides safety in numbers. As someone who used online dating a lot, I don’t feel like online dating is a very dangerous activity. Still, there is some truth that you’ll be safer with a group a friends than when completely alone.
• Even if you don’t have a great connection with anyone, the night should still be fun. You’ll have plenty to talk about with your friends afterward and there should be less opportunity for awkward moments at the end of the night.

The Bad

• You’ll be with your friends. I know, that’s supposed to be a good thing for this type of dating but I think that really depends on your friends. If you have friends who love to see you squirm or might reveal more than you would on a first date, you could end up with some mild embarrassment.
• It’s not an exceptionally popular way of dating in many places today. As I mentioned above, this type of dating is very popular in Japan but not so much in North America. Still, there are services such as Ignighter which should help make this easier.
• You’ll have to convince your single friends this is worth a try. This may not be all that hard but I think some people may have a harder time selling this than others.
• Last but definitely not least is you’ll be competing with your friends for the same singles. While I’m sure this could end fine in many cases, I suspect there could be some anger and hurt feelings in some situations. It may be best to do something like drawing lots before the group date so that if two (or more) of your friends like the same person there can be a pre-defined order of who has priority. Maybe I’m over-thinking things but I always say better safe than sorry.

While group dating is new to me it’s not entirely new. With the internet enabling so many different methods of social interaction I’m interested to see where this type of dating goes.