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In 2016, dating has gone truly digital. Any stigma which may have surrounded searching for love online has been banished, and meeting for a mid-week Tinder date is no longer something people feel they have to lie about.
But given how much choice is out there, how can you separate the wheat from the chaff?We've tried and tested some of the biggest dating apps for ease of use, design and, crucially, the likelihood of setting up a date for Valentine's Day.
Who was St Valentine?
The details are sketchy. Some say St Valentine was a priest from Rome who lived in the third century AD.
Emperor Claudius II had banned marriages, believing married men made bad soldiers and St Valentine is thought to have arranged marriages in secret.
Saint Valentine baptizing Saint Lucilla by Jacopo Bassano
He was imprisoned and sentenced to death for his crimes.
St Valentine apparently fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and sent her a love letter signed ‘from your Valentine’ on February 14th, the day of his execution, as a goodbye.
The name 'Valentinus' is found in theMartyrologium Hieronymianum, a book which was compiled between 460 and 544.
The feast of St Valentine of February 14th was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among all those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God."
Wearing a coronet made from flowers and with a stencilled inscription, St Valentine's skull now resides in the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, on Rome’s Piazza Bocca della Verità.
The ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia
Some people believe the roots of Valentine's Day stem from the ancient, possibly pre-Roman festival of Lupercalia, dedicated to the god Lupercus; a pastoral festival observed on February 13th through 15th.
Lupercalia subsumed Februa, an earlier-origin spring cleansing ritual held on the same date, which gives the month of February (Februarius) its name.
During the festival, young men would draw the name of a woman from a jar, and they would become a couple for the rest of the festival.
Men would strip naked and swat young maidens with dog- or goat-skin whips, to increase their fertility. Fertility of course is meaningless without sex, so as time passed, sex became Lupercalia's focus for the average Roman.
In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They would wear the name of the person on their sleeves - hence the expression "to wear your heart on your sleeve".
Incidentally, the X symbol has come to mean a kiss because in medieval times most people couldn't write their names so they signed cards with an X and kissed it.
Over the years, February 14th became more popular and was romanticised by the likes of Chaucer and later Shakespeare.
In 1537, England's King Henry VII officially declared the day St Valentine's Day.
There is so much confusion around who St Valentine was that the Catholic Church stopped liturgical veneration of him in 1969, although his name remains on its list of officially recognised saints.
Why do some people leave Valentine's cards anonymous?
This trend was started by the Victorians, who thought it was bad luck to sign Valentine's cards with their names.
The Victorians also started the rose-giving trend.
They were the favourite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, and have come to indicate passion and romance.
Nowadays, more than 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day every year.
Every year, there will of course be some people who do not receive any cards, flowers or gifts on Valentine's Day.
One teenager solved that problem by buying900 carnations and giving them to out to all the girls at his school.
What to write in a Valentine's card
What message will you be writing to your loved one this Valentine's Day?
If you're thinking of just putting "Happy Valentine's Day" and leaving it there - well, that's fine. Not all of us can be poets.
But if you wanted to go for something a bit more elaborate, why not take inspiration from some of the greatest love letters ever written?
Alternatively, if you're not a fan of the over-commercialised, Hallmark holiday that is Valentine's Day, here are some cards that prove romance is dead, after all.
What's Cupid got to do with it all?
Cupid in a Tree (1795/1805) by Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier
Cupid is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the war god Mars.
Cupid is also known in Latin also as Amor ("Love"). His Greek counterpart is Eros and he is just one of the ancient symbols associated with St Valentine’s Day, along with the shape of a heart, doves, and the colours red and pink.
He is usually portrayed as a small winged figure with a bow and arrow which he uses to strike the hearts of people.
People who fall in love are said to be ‘struck by Cupid’s arrow’.
When did Valentine's Day become so commercial?
It was during the middle of the 18th century that Valentine's started to take off in England, with lovers sending sweets and cards adorned with flowers, ribbons and images of cupids and birds.
Eventually huge numbers of printed cards replaced hand-written ones. In 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City began mass producing Valentine's cards.
Now about a billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged every year and it's the second largest seasonal card sending time of the year.
What's the most romantically commercial place in Britain?
An analysis of Valentine's Day gift-buying by the payments processor found that lovers in Preston will spend more than anyone else in the UK and 18pc more than the national average of £45.
Meanwhile, Amazon has revealed which UK cities buy the most of certain types of Valentine's presents - from red roses to black satin sheets. Can you match the Valentine's gift to the UK city?
How is Valentine's Day celebrated around the world?
In parts of Europe lovers give each other St Valentine’s keys as romantic gestures and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart.
In Finland, Valentine's Day is called Ystävänpäivä, which means Friend's Day and focuses on remembering friends.
However, in Mexico, February 14th is a day of national mourning.
Will you be my anti-Valentine? NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images
In countries like Pakistan, Malaysia andSaudi Arabia celebrating the day can result in severe punishment and is seen by conservative Muslims as un-Islamic.
Japanese Valentine’s Day is about all about the men. Women give chocolates to them, and hope favour is returned later in the year.
In South Korea, February 14th is one of 12 ‘love’ days that fall on the 14th of each month. Women give men presents and they reciprocate on 'White Day' a month later.
If the gift isn’t returned, singles celebrate White Day by eating jajangmyeon, a dish made from white noodles and black bean sauce.
In Brazil, Valentine's day isn't celebrated in February because it usually falls on or around Brazil Carnival. Instead, Brazil celebrates 'Dia dos Namorados' on June 12.
Brazil's celebration honours Saint Anthony - the patron saint of matchmaking and marriages.
Valentine's Day coincides with Chinese New Year this year.
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