Something New: A Scholarly Review and Clinical Perspective of Black Online Dating

For many busy and transient Black professionals, online dating may seem like a viable social option yet qualitative inquiry in a clinical setting revealed apprehensiveness to meeting potential partners on the internet. Perceived personal barriers included an interest in dating others who were similar (e.g., homogamy) in class, race, and/or religion. An exploration of quantitative research findings supports the broad existence of these perspectives among some Black professionals. Economic considerations, such as the cost of computers and online dating memberships, are also outlined as potential barriers. Additionally, soft research techniques (e.g., internet search results describing a topic subjectively, culturally, or opinion-based) were implored to fill the gap left by the limited hard research on the process of online dating, the challenges associated with its use (e.g., discrimination, digital deception), and the cultural norm differences in face-to-face versus online dating. Research on online dating is growing but minimal attention has been given to the experiences of Blacks who might be increasingly utilizing these social networking tools. The present paper examines these perceptions in the context of the sparse literature on Black online dating. Implications for future research and recommendations for Black online daters are provided.