More Couples Meet Online Than Anywhere Else Today
Stanford sociologist Michael Rosenfeld is curious about how technology is changing how we interact with one another. In a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Rosenfeld found that more heterosexual couples met online than through friends, family, church or the other methods earlier generations typically employed to find a mate.
Stanford.edu: "Rosenfeld, a lead author on the research and a professor of sociology in the School of Humanities and Sciences, drew on a nationally representative 2017 survey of American adults and found that about 39 percent of heterosexual couples reported meeting their partner online, compared to 22 percent in 2009."
Rosenfeld was interviewed at Stanford about his research and made several interesting observations about dating today.
1. Rosenfeld and his colleagues also found that the success of a relationship wasn't dependent on how the couple originally met; computer dates were just as successful as those set up by friends or family.
2. While Rosenfeld was a bit surprised that online dating apps replaced friends and family, he also noted that it makes perfect sense.
Stanford.edu: .... "the online dating systems have much larger pools of potential partners compared to the number of people your mother knows, or the number of people your best friend knows. Dating websites have enormous advantages of scale. Even if most of the people in the pool are not to your taste, a larger choice set makes it more likely you can find someone who suits you."
Rosenfeld noted that his research focused on heterosexuals, but that earlier studies showed that gay couples were early adopters of technology in dating.
Stanford.edu: "Internet dating has the potential to serve people who were ill-served by family, friends and work. One group of people who was ill-served was the LGBTQ+ community. So the rate of gay couples meeting online is much higher than for heterosexual couples."
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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