Nearly two-thirds of same-sex couples meet online, says study

A couple kiss as members of the South African Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community take part in the annual Gay Pride Parade at Durban's North Beach as part of the three-day Durban Pride Festival in Durban on June 27, 2015. AFP PHOTO / RAJESH JANTILAL (Photo credit should read RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP/Getty Images)

Nearly two-thirds of same-sex couples that got together in 2017 met online, according to a new study in the US.

The latest research published on January 28 found that 65 percent of same-sex couples that got together in 2017 met online, compared to to nearly four in 10 (39 percent) of straight couples.

The study—called “disintermediating your friends,” which is still in the draft stages—was carried out by Michael Rosenfeld and Sonia Hausen of Stanford University, and Reuben J. Thomas of the University of New Mexico.

It found that meeting online has been the most common way for same-sex couples to get together in the US since 2000.

Researchers analysed the data from a previous study called “How Couples Meet and Stay Together,” which was carried out multiple times by Rosenfeld and Thomas between 2009 and 2015.

Meeting online is now the most common way for both heterosexual and same-sex couples to get together, says survey

The 2019 study also presented data from a new “nationally representative” 2017 survey for the first time.

“People used to make up stories about how they met, so they wouldn’t have to admit that they met online, but now many people embrace it.”

—Reuben J. Thomas, assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico

Researchers behind “disintermediating your friends” found that meeting online is the now the most common way for straight couples to get together.

Previous data up until 2013 indicated that the most frequent way for heterosexual couples to meet was through friends.

A same-sex couple holding hands, representing the gay couples who met online

A same-sex couple holding hands. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)

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