Online Dating: Despite Flaws, A Fruitful Tool

DISCOVERY NEWS - Feb 7 - Online dating can be misleading from the get-go, starting with people's dating profiles, research shows. Nicole Ellison and her colleagues measured the difference between dating profile "facts" and reality by comparing posted information with what was on the test subject's drivers' license. ~52.6% of men lied about their height, as did 39% of women. 64.1% of women lied about their weight. Age in profiles is also suspect, since 24.3% of men and 13.1% of women were untruthful about their age. "Never before has the dating world been so handy for married men and women looking for a fling," said Beatriz Avila Mileham, who studied online infidelity while at the University of Florida. 83% percent of Mileham's study participants said they did not consider themselves to be cheating. Despite the pitfalls of online dating, experts say certain people may benefit. A 2004 study by eHarmony's Steve Carter and Chadwick Snow shows "significantly higher levels of relationship satisfaction for married couples who met through eHarmony as compared to a group who met offline". FULL ARTICLE @ DISCOVERY NEWS

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