ONLINE DATING — TREND OF THE TIME

Dating sites have changed the way couples meet. Now, there is evidence that this change is affecting the way people meet and even the stability of marriage. According to Technology Review, not long ago, there’s no online dating. Then, in the 1990s, the first dating site appeared. A wave of dating sites arose in the early 2000s and the explosive emergence of online dating apps in 2012 has changed the dating picture. Today, more than one-third of marriages initiated online.

In traditional dating, loose relationships has played a vital role in meeting partners. Although most people do not date with one of their best friends, they are more likely to date people related to their peers; friend of a friend, for example. In terms of social network, dating partners have been embedded in each other’s networks. Indeed, this has been reflected in surveys of how people meet their partners: through friends, in bars, at work, at educational institutions, at church, through family or relatives…

Online dating has changed that. Today, online dating is the second most popular way for heterosexual couples to meet. This is the most common way for gay couples.

This is important. “People who meet online tend to be completely strangers to each other,” Ortega and Hergovich said. And when people meet in this way, no previous social connections are established.

And there is a surprising effect. The research team measured the power of marriages by measuring the average distance between partners before and after online dating appeared. “Our model also predicts that marriages born in an online dating society tend to be stronger”, they said.

At the same time, the study of the sustainability of marriage found some evidence that couples who met online had a lower divorce rate than those who met in a traditional way. This has the potential to bring significant benefits to society.