Chances are, you have already tried or personally know someone who is into online dating. As compared to the initial popular reaction towards internet dating sites in the 90s, people have now developed a more welcoming attitude. Several researches have looked into how major services such as match.com, OkCupid, Tinder, Meetup, and Plenty of Fish (POF) have revolutionized the dating world.

Chances are, you have already tried or personally know someone who is into online dating. As compared to the initial popular reaction towards internet dating sites in the 90s, people have now developed a more welcoming attitude. Several researches have looked into how major services such as match.com, OkCupid, Tinder, Meetup, and Plenty of Fish (POF) have revolutionized the dating world.

SAME-SEX COUPLES PARTNERSHIP RATES

Researchers from Stanford University and The City College of New York evaluated the internet’s role in shaping relationships. “In the past 15 years, the rise of the Internet has partly displaced not only family and school, but also neighborhood, friends, and the workplace as venues for meeting partners” (Rosenfeld & Thomas, 2012, p.523). The paper which was published in the American Sociological Association concluded that homosexual partnership rate consistently increased with the rising efficiency and massive use of the web. On the contrary, heterosexual partnership rate proved to be unchanged. It was hypothesized that the flat statistics was caused by the constrained internet access among older heterosexual women. The study specified that individuals who have thin dating markets such as gays and lesbians rely mostly on the assistance of the internet. In addition, the data presented that those who have convenient internet access from the comforts of their homes are more likely to be involved in romantic relationships.

WHERE MARRIED COUPLES MET

A paper which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) verified that more than a third of the 19, 131 research participants’ marriages started online (2013). Still, the bigger portion of the US population met their partners at work, social gatherings, school, and other offline venues. The study which was conducted by John Cacioppo, Stephanie Cacioppo, Gian Gonzaga, Elizabeth Ogburn, and Tyler Vander Weele interestingly furthered that relationships who had virtual beginnings even did better as compared to those who first met offline. Particularly, the online group reported that their relationships reflected higher marital satisfaction rates. These findings from the couples who married between 2005 and 2012 suggest that the Internet has transformed the dynamic forces of marriage.

THE BENEFITS OF ONLINE DATING

“Online dating is pervasive, and it has fundamentally altered both the romantic acquaintance process and the process of compatibility matching” (Finkel, Eastwick, Karney, Reis, & Sprecher, 2012, p. 51). The study which was published in the Association for Psychological Science (APS) also explained that virtual dating has certain superior qualities such as accessibility and wider possibilities. Through online networks, singles have more prospects to choose from. Instead of having to rely on relatives, friends, communal activities, and chance to meet someone, cyberspace has made it much easier. However, the advantage is only limited to the commencement of the romantic interaction as online dating sites’ compatibility tests are not necessarily reliable.



The above mentioned papers generally portray online dating in a positive light. Especially when it comes to getting more acquainted with others, singles can enjoy more options through dating websites. Still, we should keep in mind that the venue for a relationship’s beginning is only one among the various facets that predict its success.