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Happily Ever After? How do Online Daters Define and Discuss Success?
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/1860/3866
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| Title: | Happily Ever After? How do Online Daters Define and Discuss Success? |
| Authors: | Mascaro, Christopher
Magee, Rachel |
| Keywords: | Online dating |
| Issue Date: | 8-Apr-2011 |
| Publisher: | Drexel University. College of Information Science and Technology. |
| Series/Report no.: | IST Research Day 2011 posters |
| Abstract: | Online dating has been the focus of numerous studies. Prior research focuses on the characteristics of individuals who use online dating sites (Stephure et al., 2009;
Sautter et al., 2010), how individuals represent themselves on different services
(Hancock & Toma 2009; Ellison et al., 2009),
and the search strategies individuals utilize
to find a partner (Fiore et al.,2010; Hitsch et al., 2006). To date, there have been no
studies that examine success stories associated with online dating websites. The
following study attempts to address this gap
by examining publicly available success stories collected through a systematic random
sample from online dating success sites
affiliated with Match.com (n=544), eHarmony
(n=213) and OkCupid (n=61).
Our analysis highlights two interesting findings. First, definitions of success differ between online dating websites. eHarmony’s success stories are mostly comprised of married couples (84%), whereas the number of married couples on Match.com (46.7%) and OkCupid (23%)is
significantly lower. Additionally, the number
of eHarmony and Match.com success profiles
increases from Dating through Engaged to
Married, whereas OkCupid’s frequency decreases from Dating through Married. Second, both eHarmony and Match.com success
stories were found to have a higher frequency
of phrases related to more serious aspects of
relationships, such as “the rest of my life”
and “marry him.” OkCupid success profiles were found to have a higher frequency of phrases dealing with the situational aspects
of dating such as “we decided to meet” and “to get to know.” These findings demonstrate
that individuals that utilize different dating sites have different definitions of
success. The motivation for these different
definitions between online dating websites is
unknown. The results from this study help to
inform future research of the cultural dimensions associated with each site that may
lead to the different definitions of success. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1860/3866 |
| Appears in Collections: | Research Day Posters (IST)
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