Hooking Up in a Smart Way

Hey, want to hook up?

There’s a new and growing trend in the Canadian dating world that has people asking one another just that. People of all ages and genders are choosing to date casually instead of diving into committed relationships. Why worry about commitment and even – gasp— marriage when you can bounce around and just have a little fun?

A Rising Canadian Trend

It’s possible that the casual dating trend is increasing in popularity around the world, but let’s focus on Canada specifically. Younger generations (Millennials, that is) are not getting married at the same rate as their older counterparts for some very specific reasons:

  1. The high divorce rate has made them averse to getting married in the first place. Finding the right life partner is a very important decision that should not be taken lightly.
  2. There’s no sense in rushing it. If you haven’t met the right partner, you don’t need to jump into commitment if it doesn’t feel right.
  3. Poor finances or a lot of debt can make people feel unstable and therefore not ready for commitment. They would rather wait until they are personally and financially ready for that big next step in their lives.

The Rise of Hook Up Apps

Don’t want a commitment but still want to meet someone? Look no further than your smartphone! Technology has completely changed the game thanks to social media and phone apps. Rather than diving into monogamous relationships, casual dating is now the preferred route.  Adult Friend Finder and Tinder are some of the most successful hookup apps and sites on the market today. It’s easier than ever to find someone in your vicinity, meet up, and hook up without any awkward conversation or blind dates. Those are a thing of the past.

How it Works

Ever used Tinder? Surely, you’ve heard people discussing “swiping left” or “swiping right” in reference to using the app. It takes saying yes or no to a hookup easier than ever. Plus, it’s a great way to meet people and form a connection based on attributes that look good on paper or small things you might have in common. You can find people near you and meet a lot of people in a very short period of time. It’s very simple.

Why it is so Popular

Why tie yourself down at a young age? Why jump into marriage, commitment and longevity when you can focus on fun instead? (All relevant questions, of course!) As the saying goes, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the relationship spectrum. Rather than potentially getting divorced down the road, just keeping it light and casual is a much simpler option.

But while it sounds like fun to hook up, it’s important to be smart about how you pursue this way of life.

How to Be Smart

Hooking up is all fun and games until someone gets hurt; at least that’s what we hear. Engaging in any sort of casual relationship with someone you don’t know all that way can be somewhat of a ‘risky’ behavior. For this reason, it’s important to be smart about how you go about hooking up and being in a casual relationship. A few things you should remember:

  • Safety in Numbers: Rather than meeting up alone with a potential hookup, bring a few friends along for a casual gathering first. Then, you can test the water into hanging out alone.
  • Choose Wisely: Get some basic information about your potential hookup ahead of time, so you aren’t walking blindly into the experience.
  • Practice Safe Behaviors: Hooking up doesn’t have to be risky if you use common sense and approach the situation with an overall sense of safety.

How do you Hook Up?

Don’t limit yourself by age or social standing. It’s easy to think that hook ups are just for the younger generation, but it’s just not limited in that way. More and more, singles are engaging in non-traditional relationships in Canada. Experts say that high divorce rates have made many people rethink the way they approach romance in their lives both now and in the future. They would rather avoid making a costly, serious mistake in their lives (can you blame them?) and choose casual engagements instead.

Do What Works for You

Safety is important, and that feeling is relative to everyone. Trust your gut and follow your instincts to be safe when hooking up, no matter how you choose to do it. It is possible to both have fun and be safe simultaneously—you don’t have to choose one over the other. Just do what feels right to you always, as this will never steer you wrong.

The Future of Hooking Up

We know that advances in technology have completely changed the hooking up game, but what’s next? Services like Tinder and AFF that help you find singles in your vicinity is one thing, but what else can technology do to improve the hook up? The sky is the limit in this regard; dating websites have robust app offerings now as well, allowing you to engage in relationships if you choose to go that path. More than anything, being safe and smart about hooking up will compel change in this industry. Stay tuned to what’s next in this regard.

Hooking up can a fun, casual way to enjoy dating and relationships as long as you are smart about it. Be safe and follow some rules you set for yourself.

Norway A Damn Hot but Cold Country

Norway as part of Scandinavia is obviously known to be a cold country, certainly in winter but it is said that, like other countries in Scandinavia, the women can make it hot. In fact Norway is said to have the hottest and thinnest women, even by Scandinavian standards and so who cares about the weather.

Norway

Officially known as the Kingdom of Norway, it occupies the Western portion of the Scandinavian peninsular with an extensive coastline on the Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. It is bordered to the East by Sweden and Russia and Finland is to its Northeast. To its South is the Skagerrak Strait with Denmark on its far side. The country has a population of about five and a quarter million with its capital being Oslo with Trondheim and Bergen being it’s two other major cities.

Norwegian Women

As previously mentioned, Norwegian women are generally known for being hot but their other distinctive quality, that perhaps makes them stand out among other western women, is the fact that they do not distinguish any difference in gender when it comes to dating, both males and females are considered equal and so your gentlemanly charms, may be greeted with surprise and a touch of confusion.

Oslo

The nightlife in Oslo on Fridays and Saturdays is lively with the streets coming alive from about 10PM as many people attend house parties, known as pre-party drinks, prior to going to any night clubs. There are many live concerts and tickets can be bought for most of them, from a post office.

Trondheim

Trondheim is Norway’s third largest city by population and most of the night life here is situated around the old municipal dockyards which have been transformed into a leisure complex featuring an assortment of bars and restaurants.

Bergen

Bergen is Norway’s second city and is said to have a more diverse selection of bars, clubs and pubs than any other city of its size in Europe. All these bars and clubs are once again at their busiest at weekends.

Norwegian Night Life

Although Norway has a good selection of bars and clubs, they are mainly only frequented at weekends and are expensive. As their prices are lower on week nights, often students will frequent them then but, noticeably few others.

Dating Norwegian Girls

One person wrote on the internet that the procedure for dating Norwegian girls was different from anywhere else and the reason for this was. Elsewhere it would perhaps be normal to tell a girl hi and if she responds, ask her for a date. If that date goes well, perhaps ask her next time, to go for a meal. If the meal goes well, hopefully the two of you will end up in bed. The writer suggested that with Norwegian girls the procedure is this. Tell a girl hi and if you wake up together the nest morning, ask her if she would like to go on a date. I am not saying this is true but it seemed true enough to prompt a prominent writer on the internet to mention it. It is however true that going to dinner is considered in Norway as a good social practice, not as a method of getting to know someone and so girls do not expect to be taken to dinner at the start of a relationship.

Norwegian Culture

Unlike some of their Scandinavian neighbours, Norwegians are not averse to dating foreigners as they believe relationships are based on compatibility and nothing else although, Norwegians on the whole are perhaps likely to dislike anyone with strong cultural or religious views that are different from what they are used to.

According to the World bank Norway has the fourth highest per capita income in the world and is the largest producer, per capita, of oil and gas, outside of the Middle East. This goes someway to explaining the high prices that you will experience in night clubs and bars. It is perhaps those prices and the fact that it can be cold outside in the winter months, why much socializing in the country is done by way of house parties however, there is a strong and active membership to the different social media including dating sites. It is estimated that among the adult population, 70% of the people are known to frequent the internet where dating sites are popular.

Although Norwegians are of course free to join many of the international dating sites, they also have some of their own, many of which are predominantly in English. Of course though, in order to get the best results if you are looking for a Norwegian girl, is to know which sites exactly, they use. Although this could take you a great deal of research, thankfully there are websites that have already completed that research for you and so you just have to visit one of those first.

Dating Sites

It isn’t just if you want to date a Norwegian girl that you will need to know specifics about a dating site, you should always learn as much about a site before you join it. Although one site may be the most popular in the world, it may not have any members for your area. Just as one of the far less popular sites, internationally, could be the most popular in your particular area. Other things that you may want to find out about a dating site before you join it is, what percentage of members are female and what percentage are male. Apparently c-date seems to be good for casual sex in Norway. Originally it was mainly males that went on the dating sites but as women realized that they did offer discretion, they also started to join in large numbers.

Why Casual Dating actually works

Casual dating or casual flings are very much part of the adult culture now. Pre marital sexual encounters for fun, ‘friends with benefits’ and even one night stands are no big deal. Why should they be? After all it is just two people coming together to satisfy each other’s sexual needs and desires without doing anything that can be considered unlawful. Nowadays, it isn’t that tough to find a willing partner for one night stands or fun and wild night filled with passion and lust or whatever you might seem appropriate to call it. With the onset of several dating websites and mobile apps, all you need is internet access and you’re good to go!

But why does it work? I mean people often approach with a question does it really work and we have the answer- yes it does. Just have a look at c-date erfaringer and c-date erfarenheter in Norway and Sweden. But why? Well the answer isn’t that simple. It works because this casual dating culture promotes the notion that if you have a sexual desire or urge and are looking out for no emotional bond to be made, you can easily find a local willing partner with a safe place or ask him/her to come over for some time, instead of going for an escort service. So all you need to do is click on the profile of the member you like and the person will be approached with your details. If your likeness is mutual, you’re good to go.

Another reason why it works is that the whole casual dating business is quite focused on discretion and follows a women centric approach. Now by women centric approach, I mean to say that the online dating cites like C-Date or Victoria Milan might allow you to go through profiles but it keeps it up to the dazzling ladies if they want to hook up with you or not. So yes, you need to request to chat and meet which does put women safety and discretion on the topmost pedestal.

Let’s come to the final reason- it’s too exhausting to keep a relationship, always trying to keep your partner happy, feeding them with love and all those sweet things. Great, but it takes up a great deal of effort and emotional investment. People nowadays just want to get it over with which is why casual sex and hook ups are no longer an issue. If you are willing to go for it and so is your partner while you both promise to keep it completely discrete with no strings attached, casual dating is going to work well for you too!

Dating Apps and the Hook Up Culture

Ask any single twenty-something with a smartphone whether or not they’ve downloaded a dating app and their answer will probably be “yes”. In fact, Tinder alone has over 50 million unique users who claim to swipe their life away at an average of 90 minutes per day. “Why all the hype?” many outsiders wonder, “What ever happened to a good old-fashioned night at the bar?”

Dating apps make it easy

People are gravitating more and more towards apps in search of sexual encounters for one reason: apps make getting laid unbearably easy. For decades, people have been going to bars in search of casual sex only to leave disappointed (for the most part, anyway). With shattered dreams and an empty wallet they stagger home to watch porn, as finding no-strings-attached sex seems to be out of the question.

Dating apps, however, have changed the game completely. On Tinder, users can find someone to share a meaningless hook-up with in just a matter of minutes. The need for lengthy profile descriptions has been replaced with a simple profile picture, age, and name, and users express their attraction to one another with a quick swipe of their finger. Dating apps such as these bring hundreds of casual encounters to their users’ fingertips every day, offering more opportunity than face to face interaction could provide. One could compare it to the way we order in food. A tap here, a swipe there, and either the delivery guy or a booty call can be at your door within minutes.

But have dating apps made hooking up too easy?

Many argue that dating apps are ruining the idea of romantic relationships altogether. This is a valid point, as the young men who use these apps are starting to see relationships as more of a “short-term” thing due to the fact that they always hundreds more potential partners within reach. On the other hand, women are frustrated by this. It seems that even though they’re presented with the same opportunities, they still favor the idea of a loving, stable relationship.

In fact, some young ladies even claim that they have “given up” on finding love, as the rise of hook up culture and dating apps seems to have made men more unreliable, rude, and in some cases, downright vulgar than ever before. The vulgarity is most present over the screens of their smartphone, as it is common practice for a man to greet a woman by asking if she’d like to “ride his face”. Women often close their dating apps feeling repulsed and awkward, to say the least.

We’ve become hooked on hooking up

Most men in their twenties seem to be all over the idea of dating apps, but many claim that they’d never pursue a real relationship with a woman they found on one of these apps. Strangely, these same men also claim that they lack real intimacy in their lives. So why are they so hooked on hooking up?

It’s probably due to the fact that dating apps can be highly addictive. The idea that you can have someone hot and ready at your door whenever you feel like it, and for free, sure is a captivating one. Dating apps are also great for providing an immediate confidence boost to those with self-esteem issues. Receiving instant confirmation that someone you find attractive thinks the same of you is great for the ego, and especially if this confirmation is just a quick swipe away.

So where does it end?

While dating apps are doing a wonderful job of catering to all the twenty-somethings looking for casual sex, the hype is bound to come to an end at some point. We as a species value intimacy and authenticity in relationships, which dating apps seem to seldom deliver. Once the twenty-somethings go in search of something a little more meaningful than their daily hook up, they’ll probably have to put their phones down to meet people in a more noble way. Rest assured, good old-fashioned online dating platforms like Match and eHarmony will be ready and waiting for when this time comes.

Love and Sex in the Digital Age

Many people seem to believe that the digital age invented casual sex, but we tend to disagree. In reality, we have been engaging in casual sex since our most prehistoric days. Humans have always gathered in social places such as taverns, bars, clubs, and pubs in hopes of meeting a desirable partner to get it on with. This is because sex is an instinctual animal desire which we all have in common – one which is even necessary for proper health. Building a strong, loving, relationship, however, usually comes second to this.

Regardless of if you’re looking for something a little more prehistoric or a little more refined, online dating can help you find it. The problem is that different platforms cater to different needs, but rest assured this article will help you find the platform that is right for you.

How the digital age made casual sex mainstream

While the digital age isn’t responsible for the invention of casual sex, we will admit that it has made it a little easier to come by. Before technology, not many people were so lucky to be engaging in the art of “hooking up”. Pick up lines didn’t always come out smooth and one couldn’t always tell whether or not they were about to hit on someone who was already in a relationship. We also tend to be a little less forward of our animalistic desires when face to face, but when screen acts as our middle man it seems that there’s nothing to lose.

The introduction of dating websites

In the mid 90’s, the first online dating services began to surface and the trend spread like wildfire. While it was more common for people to sign up with these platforms (e.g. Adult Friend Finder) in search of true love, casual hook ups had also become easier to come by. Denial no longer meant having a drink or slap thrown in your direction. Instead, users could simply shrug and look for someone else to share their animalistic desires with. The average person’s range of possibilities had grown significantly – it seemed as if there were always hundreds of potential partners within reach.

And then came the smartphone

Casual sex encounters really began to pick up with the introduction of smartphones and “friend finder” apps. These apps left personality quizzes and lengthy profile descriptions out of the equation to focus on the only things that really matter in a sex-based relationship – gender, age, and location. Most importantly, the process was simple, quick, and convenient, reflecting the exact qualities of a sex-based relationship. With a smartphone in hand, people could find a booty call similar to the way that they order a pizza. The people using these fast and convenient dating apps were almost always interested in the same thing and could even see who was “open for business” at that very moment.

And since smartphones made the online dating experience portable people could find a booty call no matter where they were or what they were doing.  The obstacle of carrying around bulky equipment such as a laptop or desktop computer no longer existed. Needless to say, the trend of dating apps spread even faster than online dating platforms.

But what method is best for you?

The answer is clear. Since the introduction of smartphone “friend finder” apps, those just looking for casual sex have deserted online dating platforms. Now, online dating platforms seem to be filled exclusively with people looking for a serious relationship while dating apps are loaded with people looking for their “quick fix”. Choose the medium with people looking for the same thing you are and you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.

Zoosk vs. Tinder – The differences

With so many dating platforms on the market today the general population is having more and more trouble picking out one which is right for them. This is especially true for Zoosk and Tinder, the dating sites which trample the rest with an overwhelming 50 million users each. Since they’re so similar, we decided it was about time to make a direct comparison between the two. There is also a latest Zoosk Review on Au.Dating-Navigator.com which we took into consideration.

Both platforms have a lot in common based on the fact that they’re both very simplistic and aim to provide users with a “casual dating” experience. Users are only required to provide the basics of age, name, general location, and a couple pictures – all of which can conveniently be pulled from already existing social media profiles. This simplicity and ease of use is actually what the apps owe most of their success to.

But while the basics are quite similar, the functionality is not. Tinder, for example, matches their users completely randomly, while Zoosk matches users a little more strategically​.

On Tinder, users are shown profiles and have the option to either swipe left or right depending on whether a profile catches their interest. The profiles presented to users are completely random, filtered only by the guidelines of age, sexual orientation, and proximity. That being said, Tinder users often come in contact with people they really have nothing in common with, resulting in some pretty meaningless connections.

Zoosk, on the other hand, shows users other profiles based on their intuitive “behavioral matchmaking” system. This behavioral matchmaking system records a user’s actions on the site to get a better feel for their likes and dislikes in potential partners. The more users use the app, the more the app learns about the users, resulting in some quality matches. Not only does the behavioral matchmaking system create matches which are much better suited for each other, but it also does away with the need for long, annoying personality questionnaires which users say they are very happy about.

Since Tinder doesn’t really have much to it in the way of intuitive technology, the app is also considerably cheaper. In fact, Tinder users don’t have to pay any sort of fee to use all the features necessary to meet someone. Meanwhile, Zoosk requires that members pay for even the basics, including the ability to view full profiles and communicate with other members.

With functions in mind, making a final decision between the platforms comes down to statistics. 80% of Tinder users seek meaningful, long-term relationships, yet more stories surface about awkward, meaningless hook-ups than anything else. On the other hand, 86% of Zoosk users seek meaningful, long-term relationships, and many success stories surface to prove that the platform is capable of just that.

At the end of the day, it seems you’ll have to dig out some cash if a serious relationship is what you seek. But if meaningless booty calls fit the bill, Tinder will do a fine job of bringing you just that.

Dating Habits in North America and Australia

Dating culture varies depending on where you are in the world. While customs and traditions usually change along with language, there are two English speaking areas which share little to no dating similarities. These areas are that of North America and Australia. So, if you’re looking to go down under on someone from Down Under, here are the differences you need to be aware of.

First off, you’re going to have to ditch the current method you use to ask someone on a date. While the common phrases in America are “Would you like to go out with me” or “Could I take you out for dinner”, these phrases will only turn Australians off.

And it’s not because Australians are uptight or prudent, but rather because they prefer the setting of group dates. In fact, the majority of Australians don’t experience a formal one-on-one date until they’re 20 years old. Australians find that the setting of a group date creates a more fun and carefree atmosphere, while one-on-one dates only create an intimidating and stressful atmosphere. We’re going to say that the Aussies are giving themselves the upper-hand here, as a recent survey showed that most people decide whether or not they’d like to see each other for a second date within 12 minutes on a first date. Talk about nerve-wracking!

Another big difference between dating in Australia and North America lies in the gender roles. In Australia, women are just as willing as men are to initiate a first date once the time is right. Australian women hold no shame in making dinner reservations or planning fun-filled day for their man of interest, and especially in the beginning of a relationship. Meanwhile, many women in America shy away from doing these things as they view them as desperate or degrading.

And while 63% of American women expect men to pay the bill on the first couple dates, Australian women see things differently. Not only is it customary in Australia for the man and the women to split the bill on the first couple dates, but it’s much appreciated (and especially in romantic relationships).

The basics do remain the same for both sides once the awkward dating stages have passed, however. North Americans and Australians both express their love for one another in the same way, and are even beginning to find each other in the same way. Nearly 40% of the American population use online dating services, while 52% of the Australian population has at least tried them. That being said, if it’s an Australian accent and tanned skin that fits your fancy, a change in your preferred proximity may be all that’s required to find your “happily ever after”.