Let Me Throw Some Numbers at You

Despite what you may think, Internet dating is proving to be an even more successful way to find long term romance and friendship for people all over the world. A new study done by a group of researchers of online dating site members has found that when couples who had built up a significant relationship by e-mailing or chatting online met for the first time, 94% of them decided on seeing each other again. The most interesting and surprising results of the study to me was that, the study, by Dr. Jeff Gavin, of the University of Bath, also found that men were more emotionally dependent on their 'e-partners' than women, and more committed to the relationship.
Dr. Gavin, with Dr Adrian Scott of the University of Bath and Dr. Jill Duffield of the University of the West of England, carried out an online survey of 229 people, aged 18 to 65, who have used UK internet dating sites, asking them about their main relationship that they had had online.
The following are the reselts of the survey:

• 94 per cent of those surveyed saw their 'e-partner' again after first meeting them, and the relationships lasted for an average of at least seven months, with 18 per cent of them lasting over a year.
• men online were significantly more likely to be committed to the relationship than women and were more dependent on their 'e-partner'.
• the more the couple engaged in simultaneous online chat before meeting rather than simply e-mailing one another, the more they were found to depend on one another emotionally and the more they understood one another.
• those who exchanged gifts before meeting had a more committed and deeper relationship.
• the more the couple talked on the telephone before they met, the deeper the relationship.

Of the relationships, 39 per cent were still going on at the time of the survey, and of these 24 per cent had been going for at least a year, and eight per cent for at least two years. Of the relationships that had already ended at the time of the survey, 14 per cent had lasted over a year, and four per cent had lasted over two years.