Speed dating is a formalized matchmaking process with the purpose of encouraging eligible singles to meet new potential partners in a very short period of time, so that interested pairs can continue meeting each other after the event. Usually, advance registration is required for speed dating events. Participants are rotated to meet each other over a series of short " dates " typically lasting from three to eight minutes depending on the organization running the event.
At the end of each interval a signal e. When the event concludes, participants can submit a list to the organizers of candidates they would like to share their contact information with. The organizers will forward the contact information if both participants included each other on the list. Contact information cannot be exchanged during the initial meeting to reduce pressure when accepting or rejecting a suitor face-to-face.
Requirement for each event vary with the organizer. Specific age range based on gender is a common restriction for events. The documentary film, "Age of Love" describes a speed dating event organized for older adults. Participants are given a time limit in which they can talk to a potential partner, then are asked if they liked the partner before moving on to the next one. They can come alone without feeling out of place; alternatively it is something that women who like to go out in groups can do together.
According to the New York Times, participants in speed dating receive an average of out of 10 matches. Online dating participants are said to find a compatible match with 1 in or fewer of the profiles they study. In the 19th century, there was a custom in some areas of the United States called New Year's Calling. On New Year's Day, January 1, many young, single women would hold an "open house" a party or reception during which a person's home is open to visitors where they would invite eligible bachelors , both friends and strangers, to stop by for a brief no more than 10—minute visit.
The earliest documented example of speed dating was by Aryeh Alan and Rena Hirsch of Los Angeles in early , who developed speed dating as a solution to the problem of typical single events where "only attractive women and outgoing men have success at the end of the evening". During the COVID pandemic , speed dating and all other dating events were paused out of caution of contracting the disease.
