2019.02.28 为什么约会软件就像自行车

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Why dating apps are like bicycles
When the bicycle first appeared it was seen as an agent of radical social change

Feb 28th 2019

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By Tom Standage

To 21st-century eyes the bicycle seems unremarkable. But when modern-style “safety” bikes – with pedals, brakes and rubber tyres – first appeared in the 1890s, they were seen as agents of radical social change.

Beloved of socialists and suffragettes, bicycles became associated with emancipation and progress. Female cyclists abandoned impractical Victorian clothing for trousers or bloomers. “The bicycle is indeed the great leveller,” reported the Century magazine in 1894. “It puts the poor man on a level with the rich, enabling him to ‘sing the song of the open road’ as freely as the millionaire.”


That was overdoing it. But bikes had an immediate social impact in one area: dating. Cyclists could now travel beyond their own communities, greatly increasing the number of potential marriage partners.

They allowed the young to escape the oversight of chaperones. Tandem bicycles, immortalised in a song from 1892, “Daisy, Daisy”, let couples ride together.

Even punctures provided romantic opportunities. Women were expected to rely on male gallantry for repairs: “There are many punctures done on purpose, which necessitates a tête-à-tête walk home.”

As bikes got cheaper, the craze came to an end, to the relief of scandalised Victorians who worried that cycling made women infertile, caused disease and loosened their morals.

In recent years another technology has expanded people’s social circles and dramatically broadened their romantic opportunities: online dating. Like bicycles, apps and websites bring together people who might otherwise not have met, but on a far larger scale. In America more than a third of marriages now start with a digital match-up. Online dating is fast catching up with “friend of a friend” introductions as the most popular way to meet people of the opposite sex. Among same-sex relationships, 70% now start online.

Evidence suggests that marriages in America between people who meet online are likely to be happier and last longer. Online dating also seems to be boosting interracial marriages by overcoming social divisions. Dating apps have completed what the bicycle began. Both technologies are, you might say, revolutionary.


为什么约会软件就像自行车
当自行车第一次出现时，它被视为激进的社会变革的媒介。

2019年2月28日


作者：汤姆-斯坦达奇

在21世纪的人看来，自行车似乎并不起眼。但是，当现代风格的 "安全 "自行车--有踏板、刹车和橡胶轮胎--在19世纪90年代首次出现时，它们被看作是激进的社会变革的媒介。

受到社会主义者和女权主义者的喜爱，自行车开始与解放和进步联系在一起。女性自行车手放弃了维多利亚时代不实用的服装，改穿长裤或喇叭裤。"自行车的确是伟大的平权者，"《世纪》杂志在1894年报道。它使穷人与富人平起平坐，使他能够像百万富翁一样自由地 "唱着开放的道路之歌"。


这话说得太夸张了。但自行车在一个领域立即产生了社会影响：约会。骑自行车的人现在可以走出自己的社区，大大增加了潜在的婚姻伴侣的数量。

它们使年轻人能够摆脱监护人的监督。1892年的一首歌 "黛西，黛西 "使串联式自行车成为不朽之作，让情侣们一起骑行。

即使是爆胎也提供了浪漫的机会。女性被期望依靠男性的英勇行为进行修理。"有很多刺破的地方是故意的，这就需要我们一起走回家。

随着自行车越来越便宜，这股热潮也告一段落，这让那些担心骑自行车会使女性不孕、导致疾病和道德松懈的维多利亚时代的人们松了口气。

近年来，另一项技术扩大了人们的社交圈，并极大地拓宽了他们的浪漫机会：网上约会。就像自行车一样，应用程序和网站将那些本来不可能相遇的人聚集在一起，但规模要大得多。在美国，现在有超过三分之一的婚姻是由数字配对开始的。网上约会正在迅速赶上 "朋友的朋友 "介绍，成为认识异性的最流行方式。在同性关系中，70%的人现在从网上开始。

有证据表明，在美国，在网上认识的人之间的婚姻可能更幸福，持续时间更长。网上约会似乎也通过克服社会隔阂而促进了异族婚姻的发展。约会应用程序已经完成了自行车开始的工作。你可以说，这两种技术都是革命性的。