33% of Recent Marriages Occurred Between Online Courtships

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (CBS Connecticut) - A new study offered by researchers at the University of Chicago and reviewed by a team at Harvard University shows that a third of recent marriages happen between couples who met online.

For the study, researchers examined a sampling of marriages of over 19,000 people that occurred between 2005 and 2012.

Of the couples that participated, the research teams found that 35 percent of those marriages occurred between couples who found one another through the Internet.

Approximately half of those who met online did so through dating sites such as Match.com and eHarmony.

Out of the other half, 20 percent reportedly met through social networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook, while 15 percent met through communication-based online mediums such as email and chat rooms.

The study also found that those who met online were less likely to get divorced.