The impacts of online dating on society go far beyond "feeding hookup culture," "destroying romance," or the dinner date, and are more profound than first believed.
According to research by Josue Ortega of the University of Essex and Philipp Hergovich of the University of Vienna in Austria, the popularity of online dating services may be contributing to stronger marriages, more interracial relationships, and connections between people outside of our usual social circles. More than one-third of marriages today have their beginnings online.


Online dating, which is by far the most common type of dating for most homosexuals, is currently the second most popular method of partner-finding for heterosexual couples. Sites like Match.com, Tinder, and others, ranging from eHarmony to Grindr, have had a significant impact on how our society functions in terms of meeting new people since the iPhone was introduced. Since the introduction of Apple's first iPhone in 2007, dating has undergone a revolutionary change, and dating app usage has skyrocketed.

According to a study, social networks used to be the primary means of meeting others who shared our interests—friends of friends, coworkers, or neighbors. As a result, the advent of online dating resulted in the emergence of a completely new pool of potential dates, most of whom were strangers, and it became significantly more diversified than it previously was.
"We don't always fall in love with our twin, so tapping into a wider dating network outside of race and ethnicity promotes happy unions," said Viola Schneider, dating expert at singlepolish.com.

What does studies say?

According to a model developed by Ortega and Hergovich, a society will be significantly more diverse and have a higher percentage of interracial marriages when more people form connections outside of their own social circles, including interracial relationships. Racial prejudice and racism might be eradicated with more interracial marriages. Additionally, internet dating couples tend to be happier relationships. The model demonstrates that relationships between couples who met through internet dating last longer, on average.

Another study corroborates this thesis. A 2013 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that online daters report somewhat higher rates of marital happiness than persons who meet offline. There was a 1% difference in divorce rates between couples who met online and those who met offline. Only 7 percent of the 19,131 online dating couples who wed had ever divorced or separated. In the US, experts predict that between 40% and 50% of marriages result in divorce.