If the couple gets along well enough, they can then decide to meet each other in person. According to Abelman, being able to ask a potential partner questions on the fly while in a safe and comfortable setting helps to empower women in particular. "A lot of women want to know what they are getting into before jumping into the water," said Abelman. "If women can meet a potential date from the comfort and safety of their own couch, then when they do meet in person they are no longer strangers." The virtual dating experience, even one as business-minded as my own, is surprisingly intimate, which helps explain the relative success of virtual dating compared with the major dating sites. Last year a study by researchers at Harvard and Duke showed that couples who go on virtual dates before a face-to-face date are two times more likely to say that they would go on a second date with a person. "Virtual dating doesn't create these unrealistic expectations based on ambiguous profile postings," said Dan Airely of Duke University, a co-author of the study "It's like getting to take a bite of an apple, instead of having someone tell you what an apple is supposed to taste like." Related Links: Go to Discovery Tech for interviews, slide shows and more |
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