The Invisible Contours of Online Dating Communities

A Social Network Perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID8238623
AuthorsD Felmlee (0000-0003-4211-0489, corresponding author), Diane H Felmlee, Derek A Kreager (0000-0002-9136-1404)
Year2017
Volume18
Issue1
Pages1-28
Publication date2017-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Social Structure (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1529-1227 • E-ISSN: 1529-1227
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.21307/joss-2018-004
OpenAlexW2788612502
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited28

This study analyzed the e-mail exchange network of participants of a national dating website. The investigation examined whether aggregated partner preferences give rise to distinct, “invisible,” clusters in online dating networks that structure dating opportunities and result in homophilous subgroups. The findings identified and visualized the ten largest network clusters of participants who interacted with each other and examined the dater characteristics most responsible for cluster membership. Rated attractiveness and age were the strongest cluster correlates, whereas education and race were relatively uncommon determinants. In sum, daters’ interdependent actions created aggregate communities unseen by the users themselves, but no less influential for dating opportunities, that were based more on attractiveness and age than on race and education

Attractiveness · Cluster (spacecraft · Geography · Interdependence · Perspective (graphical · Race (biology · Social media · Social network (sociolinguistics · Social science · Sociology · World Wide Web · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Computer Science · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Personality Traits and Psychology · Psychology · Gender Studies · Social Psychology

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