Health & Sex

Does Online Dating Make You Luckier at Love?

Advice to Online Daters

Still, online dating can be a useful way to meet romantic partners, Reis says. Here are his suggestions for success:

1. Don’t spend vast amounts of money on it. “The value added by those kinds of matching services is not clear.”
2. When you go through lists of people, only look at a handful at a time. That helps you evaluate each potential partner on his or her own merits, not just on how he or she compares with other people.
3. Don’t just look at the characteristics a person lists on their profile. “Try to imagine, ‘What would it be like to go on a hike with this person? What would it be like to go on a vacation with this person?’"
4. Communicate online, but meet in-person quickly. That keeps online interactions like well-worded emails from taking on undue and unrealistic significance.