{"id":97768,"date":"2006-03-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-03-05T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2006\/03\/05\/part-5-beyond-dating-websites\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:14:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:14:37","slug":"part-5-beyond-dating-websites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2006\/03\/05\/part-5-beyond-dating-websites\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 5. Beyond Dating Websites"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;three-out-of-four-online-americans-who-are-single-and-looking-for-romantic-partners-have-used-the-internet-for-at-least-one-dating-related-activity&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" id=\"three-out-of-four-online-americans-who-are-single-and-looking-for-romantic-partners-have-used-the-internet-for-at-least-one-dating-related-activity\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three out of four online Americans who are single and looking for romantic partners have used the internet for at least one dating-related activity.<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The act of using dating websites is just one online avenue that can lead to a romantic connection. The internet facilitates a wide array of other dating- or romance-related activities. A myriad of places and tools, from search engines to email and instant messaging, are marshaled by internet users who are trying to connect with a romantic partner\u2014that includes \u00a0everything from information seeking to virtual flirting. Among all internet users who are single and looking, 74% have engaged in at least one dating-related activity. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most of them have done three or fewer of these activities, but one-quarter have done between four and ten online activities related to dating. Just 2% of all single and looking internet users have done all ten of the dating activities that we asked about (see full list in table on the following page).<\/p>\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;flirting-online-ranks-highly-among-those-who-are-searching-for-someone&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" id=\"flirting-online-ranks-highly-among-those-who-are-searching-for-someone\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Flirting online ranks highly among those who are searching for someone.<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether you meet someone offline or online, email and other forms of online communication now play host to some of the most crucial interactions in the early stages of a relationship. Indeed, a substantial segment of single and looking internet users, 40%, say they flirt online, and 28% have used the internet or email to ask someone out on a date. As one might expect, online daters are considerably more experienced with online courtship; fully 60% of online daters say they have flirted online.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A smaller segment (21%) of single and looking internet users say that people they know have tried to play online matchmaker for them, introducing them to potential dates via email or instant messaging.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The single and looking segment of the online population uses the internet both as a roadmap for the offline world and as a destination to meet people. While 27% have used the internet to find a place offline, like a nightclub or singles event, where they might meet someone, 19% have participated in an online group where they hoped to meet people to date. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond facilitating that initial connection, the internet can help make or break a couple. While 18% of single and looking internet users have maintained a long-distance romantic relationship with someone online, 9% report breaking up with someone using the internet or email. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"476\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Dating-related activities online\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/media\/079EF4C79D4D4521949D9339C67756F0.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;one-in-three-online-daters-has-used-the-internet-to-search-for-someone-they-dated-in-the-past&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" id=\"one-in-three-online-daters-has-used-the-internet-to-search-for-someone-they-dated-in-the-past\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">One in three online daters has used the internet to search for someone they dated in the past.<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another distinguishing characteristic of the dating scene in the digital age is the newfound ability for singles to \u201cGoogle\u201d each other or search online for information relating to a potential date before they meet or even agree to meet. While pre-internet perusing might have involved talking with a potential date\u2019s acquaintances, or sifting through a yearbook to find pictures from that person\u2019s past, internet-era searching can instantly reveal a wide array of details about the person\u2019s work experiences, education, and personal life, photos, blog postings, etc. Of those internet users who are single and looking, 17% have searched for information about someone they were currently dating or were about to meet for a first date. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another form of personal \u201cGoogling\u201d involves seeking information about someone with whom you were involved in the past.\u00a0 Similar in size to the pre-date Googling crowd, 18% of internet users who are single and looking say they have searched for information about someone they have dated in the past, compared with 32% of online daters who say they have done this.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Looking at the larger population of all internet users and beyond dating-specific searches, 28% of all internet users say they have searched for information online about someone they know or might meet.[15.numoffset=&#8221;15&#8243; Pew Internet Project Tracking Survey, September 2005.]<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three out of four online Americans who are single and looking for romantic partners have used the internet for at least one dating-related activity. The act of using dating websites is just one online avenue that can lead to a romantic connection. The internet facilitates a wide array of other dating- or romance-related activities. A [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[526],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-97768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","formats-report","research-teams-internet"],"label":false,"post_parent":97654,"word_count":619,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2006\/03\/05\/part-5-beyond-dating-websites\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[{"id":97654,"title":"Online Dating","slug":"online-dating","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2006\/03\/05\/online-dating\/","is_active":false},{"id":97664,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"acknowledgments-18-5","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2006\/03\/05\/acknowledgments-18-5\/","is_active":false},{"id":97667,"title":"Part 1. Introduction","slug":"part-1-introduction-5","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2006\/03\/05\/part-1-introduction-5\/","is_active":false},{"id":97671,"title":"Part 2. The State of Relationships in America","slug":"part-2-the-state-of-relationships-in-america","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2006\/03\/05\/part-2-the-state-of-relationships-in-america\/","is_active":false},{"id":97762,"title":"Part 3. Who Is Dating Online?","slug":"part-3-who-is-dating-online","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2006\/03\/05\/part-3-who-is-dating-online\/","is_active":false},{"id":97765,"title":"Part 4. Public Attitudes Toward Online Dating","slug":"part-4-public-attitudes-toward-online-dating","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2006\/03\/05\/part-4-public-attitudes-toward-online-dating\/","is_active":false},{"id":97768,"title":"Part 5. 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