Marriages made on the net

In the earlier days, marriages were most made by families and extended families. They spread the word about an eligible girl or boy within their own social circles and ‘arranged’ marriages happened. Now with the family unit itself breaking into nuclear from joint, this huge social circle has all but dwindled. The ‘family pandit’ no longer visits and thus there are no alliances which come walking in.

There are many wedding websites now – Shaadi, Bharatmatrimony, Jeevansathi and many more. A new one had got added – Dil Mil. It is a San Francisco-based dating app for expats from India and other South Asian countries. But looks like with Facebook planning to launch its dating on the social media, others are either running off or consolidating. And the latest such ‘marriage’ is of Dating.com and Dil Mil where the former has acquired the latter.

Dil Mil was the Tinder for South Asians and has over 1 million users in the US, UK, & Canada, and has spread its influence both via the app, as well as events, music, and art. It’s run campaigns with Bollywood superstars like Shilpa Shetty, “Love is” with leading South Asian influencers, and events like the Sessions Music Festival in New York City.

And Dating.com has acquired so many - DateMyAge, LovingA, Tubit, AnastasiaDate, ChinaLove and others. Here it’s the reverse – from so many nuclear to all under one roof….