One in six Americans has broken up with someone either online or via text message, a new study on online dating says.
The Pew Research Center study released Monday shows that, despite the fact that Americans have increasingly embraced online dating over the years, instances of bad behaviour (ranging from bad etiquette to much more serious actions, like harassment) on dating sites and apps are still relatively common.
Among Americans who have dated recently and who have access to the Internet or a cellphone, for example, 17 per cent admit to having broken up with someone electronically. Among younger groups (age 18 to 29), that number is even higher, at 22 per cent.
Related: Read an infographic on these statistics.
Americans reported other types of poor etiquette, too, with over half (54 per cent) of daters saying that someone they'd met online had "seriously misrepresented themselves in their profile."
More alarmingly, well over one-fifth of people say they have been harassed or made to feel uncomfortable through someone on a dating site.
That number is much higher for women and young people. 42 per cent of women say they've felt harassed by or uncomfortable with someone on a dating site, compared with just 17 per cent of men. And among young people, 41 per cent of people who use social-networking sites like Twitter or Facebook say they have had to block or "unfriend" someone who was making them feel uncomfortable.
The Pew survey compared answers given by over 2,200 adults rating their experiences on dating and social-networking sites. The results found that, in general, Americans are increasingly embracing online dating, and that the practice is quickly shedding its reputation as a last-resort for the desperate.
The majority of internet users (59 per cent) now view online dating as a positive thing, the study shows, a 15-point increase from a similar Pew survey conducted in 2005. At least 38 per cent of Americans "single and looking" told Pew researchers that they've used a dating site or mobile dating app.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the survey also showed that younger people (in particular, the 25-to-34 age range) are much more likely to use dating sites. It also showed that those with more education (at least some college), and making between $50,000 to $75,000 (U.S.), were most likely to date online.
Other findings from the Pew report:
Almost 1 in 5 Internet users (24 per cent) admit to having looked up an ex online, up from 11 per cent in 2005. That number is even higher amongst social-networking users, with nearly one-third of Americans saying they've checked up on someone they once dated.
Almost 1 in 5 online daters say they met their spouse or long-term boyfriend or girlfriend through online dating
Forty-one per cent of people in the United States know someone who has used online dating, up from 31 per cent in 2005
Over 1 in 5 online daters have asked someone else to help them with building their profile
Almost one-third of people have gone online to look up someone they are currently dating or about to go on a first date with.
The most common dating site is Match.com, just as it was in 2005. Other popular sites, according to the 2013 survey, are eHarmony, Plenty of Fish and OkCupid. Other sites that have dropped off the list since 2005? Yahoo Personals (which no longer exists) and MySpace.