The setting allows women to start the conversation, and it's currently being trialled.

A massive new study finds everyone dates aspirationally—and offers seven other lessons about digital romance.

It's a challenge to keep up with all the rules of how you should act on a date. For many people, going the whole evening without checking their phone will be an excruciating exercise in willpower. If you really like someone, you don't want them to think you're sidebarring them, so you'll just have to cope somehow. In its eighth annual Singles in America Study, dating site Match asked over 5,000 singles in the US about dating rituals, including what people thought was appropriate use of their phone on a date.

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A pair of researchers suggests dating apps and websites could be contributing to the recent spike in interracial marriages. The study out of the National Academy of Sciences found “that when a society benefits from previously absent ties, social integration occurs rapidly, even if the number of partners met online is small.”

Dating websites have changed the way couples meet. Now evidence is emerging that this change is influencing levels of interracial marriage and even the stability of marriage itself. Match.com went live in 1995. A new wave of dating websites, such as OKCupid, emerged in the early 2000s. And the 2012 arrival of Tinder changed dating even further. Today, more than one-third of marriages start online. Clearly, these sites have had a huge impact on dating behavior. But now the first evidence is emerging that their effect is much more profound.

You can't even trust the pics.

Dating sites claim to winnow a few ideal suitors out of a nigh-infinite pool of chaff. But the matches these algorithms offer may be no better than picking partners at random, a study finds. Researchers asked about 350 heterosexual undergrads at Northwestern University to fill out questionnaires assessing their personalities and romantic preferences. They were quizzed about things like self-esteem, goals, values, loneliness...

You'd like to think that looks aren't everything when it comes to dating: that you will attract partners by your wit, warmth and creativity as much as your physical appearance. And that’s certainly true – at least for men. Women on the other hand are rather less lucky. A study published this week by the Royal Society found that if you’re an “average-looking” or ugly man, being witty, entertaining and imaginative will increase your overall attractiveness.

Don’t join the guys who were daft enough to hand over $5 each to a woman online – here are some tips to avoid falling into a trap

A few years ago there was a woman in my life—let’s call her Tanya—and we had hooked up one night in Los Angeles. We’d both…

Uncovering the dating habits of conspiracy theorists and the challenges they face. By Sabine Heinlein.

Finding love in the postromantic, postmarital age. By Judith Shulevitz.

Whether they’re swiping left or swiping right, male users of the popular dating app Tinder appear to have lower levels of self-esteem and all users appear to have more negative perception of body image than those who don’t use the app, according to research presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association. “Tinder users reported having lower levels of satisfaction with their faces and bodies and having lower levels of self-worth than the men and women who did not use Tinder,” said Jessica Strübel, PhD, of the University of North Texas, who presented the research that she co-authored with Trent Petrie, PhD...

Back in 2012, a new craze swept the Internet centered on a dating app called Tinder. The app shows users pictures of potential dating partners in their local area. Users swipe right if they like the picture or swipe left if they don’t. When two users like each other, the app puts them in contact with its built-in messaging service. Tinder changed the ground rules for dating apps. Until then, most dating services had found matches using a range of factors such as shared interests, age, future plans, and so on. On Tinder, all that matters is first impressions.

A new dating service is swapping Tinder for smelly T-shirts. But does it result in romance?

When any kid with a smartphone has the ability to create an account on Tinder and start connecting with people, many parents will want to make sure their children aren't doing anything inappropriate. TeenSafe, a leading phone-monitoring web program for parents who want to be aware of what their kids are doing online, updated Friday to include the ability to monitor Tinder activity. Parents who use TeenSafe can now see if their kid has installed Tinder, their profile...

When was the last time you met a couple where one person was attractive and the other was not? There’s no reason couples like that should stand out—except for the fact that they are so rare. Seeing it can set off an uncharitable search for an explanation. Is the plain one rich or funny? Is the attractive one boring or unintelligent? While love-seeking singles speak of this dynamic through euphemisms like “she’s out of my league”, economists and psychologists...

What the data actually say about what online dating is doing to us. By Roberto A. Ferdman.

A new health safety page provides prevention and testing information. The dating app Tinder agreed Thursday to provide information on testing locations for sexually transmitted diseases, ending a feud with a California advocacy group. Tinder has battled with the Los Angeles based AIDS Health Foundation since the group launched an ad campaign last fall linking the mobile dating app with the spread of STDs. Tinder responded to the charge with...