Advertisement Every day, millions of single adults, worldwide, visit an online dating site. Many are lucky, finding life-long love or at least some exciting escapades. Others are not so lucky. The industry—eHarmony, Match, OkCupid, and a thousand other online dating sites—wants singles and the general public to believe that seeking a partner through their site is not just an alternative way to traditional venues for finding a partner, but a superior way.

On the other hand, the disinhibition effect may not be so benign. Out spills rude language and harsh criticisms, anger, hatred, even threats. Or people explore the dark underworld of the internet, places of pornography and violence, places they would never visit in the real world.

First manuscript received on January 9, Revisions received on February 18, and July 12, Shyam Sundar on August 10, Final manuscript received on August 17, First published online on September 17, Abstract Despite the popularity of online dating sites, little is known about what occurs when online dating partners choose to communicate offline. Drawing upon the modality switching perspective, the present study assessed a national sample of online daters to determine whether face-to-face FtF relational outcomes could be predicted by the amount of online communication prior to the initial FtF meeting.

Results were consistent with the hypothesized curvilinear relationship between the amount of online communication and perceptions of relational messages intimacy, composure, informality, social orientation , forecasts of the future of the relationship, and information seeking behavior when meeting their partner FtF. The results provide support for the modality switching perspective, and offer important insight for online daters. As of October , Match.

Little is known regarding what occurs once partners choose to meet each other in person. Online dating sites foster initial communication between potential romantic partners. Once initial contact has been established, partners must determine whether to pursue other forms of communication outside of the dating site. Although some online daters engage in a drawn out process of mediated courtship, most prefer to meet potential partners face-to-face FtF relatively quickly after the initial communication.