Pew study finds online dating growing in popularity, negative experiences 'relatively'

Online dating is shedding its stigma as a refuge for the desperate, but people who use sites such as Match.com and eHarmony are still in the minority.Thirty-eight percent of Americans who are "single and looking" say they've used an online dating site or mobile dating app, according to a new study.The report due out Monday from the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project suggests that attitudes toward online dating "have progressed in a clearly positive direction." In fact, 59 percent of Internet users agree that online dating is a good way to meet people.tyres and wheels service & repair equipment That's up from 44 percent in 2005.As Americans shop, socialize and entertain themselves online, a growing number are turning to the Internet to find dates. Some 11 percent of people who started a long-term relationship in the past decade say they met their partner online.Antique bath fixtures Even so, only 10 percent of Americans say they've tried online dating. 

Online dating is most popular among men and women ages 25 to 34. Nearly a quarter of them have used online dating sites, compared with just 10 percent of people in the 18 to 24 age group. For ages 35 to 44,Wholesale Quantum Resonance Magnetic Analyzer QMA201 it's 17 percent and then the numbers fall to the single digits. Three percent of those over 65 have dabbled in online dating.Whites are slightly more likely to use dating sites than other ethnicities -- 11 percent compared with 7 percent for blacks and 5 percent of Hispanics, according to the survey. People without a high school diploma were the least likely to use the Internet to find a date, while those who have completed "some college" were the most likely.While a relatively small fraction of people use online dating sites, forty-two percent of Americans say they know someone who has, up from 31 in 2005.quantum resonance magnetic analyzer Among those 65 or older, the number grew to 24 percent from 13 percent. 

Once upon a time, couples who found each other online felt compelled to spin alternate "how we met" tales, but that's no longer the case. Perhaps it's the result of changing attitudes. In 2005, 29 percent of Internet users agreed that people on online dating sites were "desperate." In Pew's most recent study, that number fell to 21 percent.But online dating isn't all chocolate hearts and red roses.thermos bottle More than half of online daters say they believe someone else "seriously misrepresented themselves" in an online dating profile. More than a quarter have felt uncomfortable or harassed by someone who contacted them.The results of Pew's recent study aren't directly comparable to its 2005 report because the way surveyors count the "online dating population" has changed. There were no dating apps eight years ago. That said, the percentage of Americans who say they have used an online dating website grew from 3 percent in 2008 to 6 percent in 2009, and 9 percent this year.