Patterns of Online Dating Networks: Subgroups, Niches, and Homophily

• In Event: 054 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 19. Union Formation

Abstract

Online dating is a rapidly expanding market for meeting potential mates. According to a nationally representative survey, 22% of recently married couples first met online. Dating arranged on the Internet provides a unique opportunity to investigate the earliest stages of relationship formation. Structural factors that influence partner selection in the “offline” world, such as living in the same neighborhood, are held relatively constant, facilitating the study of individuals’ preferences net of social and structural barriers. Historically, intimate pairs formed “offline” tend to be homophilous, or similar, on a range of demographic factors. Here we investigated whether homophilous partner preferences also give rise to distinct network clusters in the e-mail exchanges of 3,521 online participants of a national, free, dating website in a Midwest city. Using social network analysis, we identified and visualized subgroups of participants who sent and replied to messages from similar possible partners, and then we conducted a multivariate analysis of subgroup membership. The largest subgroup consisted primarily of highly attractive individuals who were older than the site average. Highly attractive young people comprised the second largest subgroup. Neither education nor body type typically predicted subgroup membership. Attractiveness and age drove much of the homophilous patterns, with separate niches formed for atypical preferences, such as “casual sex” or “activity partner.” Although race was not a common determinant of subgroup membership, there were important exceptions. Blacks were concentrated in two of the eleven largest subgroups, and they were significantly underrepresented, as compared to whites, in the largest subgroup.

Authors

• Diane H. Felmlee, Pennsylvania State University

• Derek Allen Kreager, Pennsylvania State University