Cupid has swapped his bow and arrow for a computer when it comes to matchmaking.
A new study reveals that more than a third of recent marriages in the United States began online.
It also found that relationships that began over the Web are slightly happier and even less likely to split than those couplings that started offline.
The study — based on a survey of 19,000 people and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — said 35 percent of couples who recently married met online.
Some 45 percent of couples met on dating sites, while the rest met on social networks, in chat rooms, or through instant messaging.
The was commissioned by the dating website eHarmony.
"It’s a very impressive study. But it was paid for by somebody with a horse in the race," social psychologist Eli Finkel of Northwestern University
told USA Today.
"Does this study suggest that meeting online is a compelling way to meet a partner who is a good marriage prospect for you? The answer is ‘absolutely,'" Finkel continued. But he added that it's "premature to conclude that online dating is better than offline dating."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.