14 DAY TRIAL // Meeting someone for drinks after making contact with them on the Internet is no longer an uncommon occurrence, with many a couple admitting that they have found true love thanks to one dating website or another. Despite skepticism against such sites, a new survey comes to show that, indeed, they do work wonders in most cases, helping singles find their perfect partner and start a stable relationship based on true commitment and love.
Performed by consumer group Which?, the survey included more than 1,500 people who frequently visited and / or were registered on dating websites, and had gone at least on a date with someone they had met on the Internet.
Sixty-two percent of them stated that it was considerably much easier to meet someone on a dating site than in any of the “traditional” places to do so, such as a club, pub, or bar. However, those under 35 are more likely to just know someone who’s been on one such date than having had the experience themselves, the survey also shows.
One thing is certain, though: online dating is constantly gaining popularity and works in most cases. “Online dating is revolutionizing the way people meet each other. Switching the computer on could be the first step to success.” Jess Ross, editor for the Which? website, tells the Daily Mail. And revolutionizing it is, as more than 22 million people were registered with dating sites in 2007, with one in five of them actually meeting their perfect partner and walking down the aisle with them.
What exactly makes online love successful is not yet know, though. So far, researchers have established that it can be of two types (one that combines passion, intimacy and commitment, and another that balances only the last two), but what is it exactly that makes people fall for someone they don’t know at first is yet to be determined.
“To date, there has been no systematic study of love in the context-of relationships formed via online dating sites. But with the popularity of online dating, it is imperative we understand the factors that influence satisfaction in relationships formed in this way.” Dr. Jeff Gavin, who was involved in a previous study on love on the Internet, told the Daily Mail a while back.