Online dating leads to a strong family

Despite the widespread prejudice against virtual flirting, the study found that marriages between couples who met online were no less stable than regular ones.

The study , organized by the online dating service eHarmony, covered almost 20 thousand people who got married between 2005 and 2012. About 35% of them met their other half through the Internet - by the way, this figure turned out to be more than through mutual friends, at work or at school, combined. As a rule, somewhat older, wealthier, and educated people meet people online than supporters of traditional approaches. However, less than half of them use specialized online services. Most people meet on social networks, chats, virtual communities, and multiplayer games.

About 94% of marriages that began on the Internet had survived by the time the study was conducted, while among “offline” marriages the figure was 92%. The difference turned out to be insignificant, but statistically significant. They showed the same slight advantage in assessing satisfaction with their marriage: 5.6 points versus 5.5 points out of 7.