How do married couples who met on social networking sites compare to married couples who met through other types of online meetings or the “old-fashioned” way? New research has found those who who married after meeting on a social networking site tended to be younger, married more recently, and African American.
Nearly 7 percent of Americans who married between 2005-2012 met on social networking sites, yet little is known about the topic.
“Throughout the 2000s and up to the present, the adoption and integration of Internet technology into individuals’ everyday lives has been remarkable, particularly in the realm of romantic relationship development,” Jeffrey Hall of the University of Kansas, Lawrence wrote in his study. “Since 1997, there has been a sea change in both attitudes toward and adoption of technologies facilitating romantic relationship development, particularly online dating.”
The study of 18,527 individuals found that people were more likely to have met their spouse on a social networking site if they were younger, male, African American or Hispanic, married more recently, frequent Internet users, and had a higher income.
Those who met on a social networking site were no more or less likely to be divorced or separated than those who met on an online dating site or somewhere else on the Internet. Those who met on a social networking site tended to be more satisfied with their marriage than those who met offline.
Hall noted that social networking sites “offer a low effort and discreet method of learning about potential romantic partners.” Sites like Facebook, he explained, make “relationship status and interest in partners transparent, and those features are both used as and perceived to be signs of openness to romance.” In addition, such sites allow people to maintain interpersonal relationships with acquaintances and friends of friends, which can play a critical role in romantic relationship development.
