THE popularity of online dating among Greater Bunbury residents has experienced the greatest growth of any location across regional WA in the last five years.
Since 2010, national dating website RSVP has seen 177 per cent growth in new members in the Greater Bunbury region, only coming second to Perth in the same timeframe.
RSVP chief executive Dave Heysen said research showed the key driver for people to look online was to expand their network and meet new people that they would not otherwise have access to.
“Online dating is a really effective way to tap in to a large group of other single people who are looking for dating and relationships,” Mr Heysen said.
“At the end of the day, you’ll find more single people online than you will find at a pub and this is particularly appealing to people living in regional areas or smaller communities.”
The RSVP Date of the Nation Report 2014 shows that online dating is already the second most preferred way to meet a new partner, behind introductions through family and friends, but ahead of other traditional avenues such as clubs, pubs or bars.
“Introductions through family and friends is an established social custom that's been around for centuries but in less than 20 years, online dating has established itself as the second most popular way to meet new partners in Australia – it truly is mainstream,” Mr Heysen said.
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