And the world’s first computer-based matchmaking service was introduced in 1965
The conjunction of the Women’s Movement and the advent of birth control spurred a sexual revolution in the ’60s and ’70s.
If the 1950s were all about marriage rates rising and settling down early, the 1960s and 1970s ushered in a new, liberal approach to dating: premarital sex was suddenly on the map, the birth control pill emerged – thereby allotting women power over their own fertility – and dating etiquette underwent a paradigm shift as the fulfillment of sexual desire took precedence.
With the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 – and with the gay liberation movement picking up traction in the ’70s – traditional models of dating and outdated conceptions of relationships were beginning to be challenged.
Operation Match , the world’s first computer-based dating service, was created by Jeffrey C. Tarr and David L. Crump, two Harvard undergrads, in 1965.
Users of Operation Match were asked to fill out a detailed questionnaire, and then mail in their answers (plus a $3 service fee) to Crump and Tarr, who transferred the questionnaires onto punch cards, which were then processed on an IBM 1401 computer system.
Three weeks later, clients would receive a sheet of paper with the names and contact information of their top six matches.
“Hookup culture” erupted onto the scene in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
The term “hookup culture” exploded onto the scene, and while there seemed to be no general consensus about what hookup culture actually entailed, less people were arranging formal dates, and more people were sleeping with one another.
