This paper explores how the efficiency of Internet search is changing the way Americans find romantic partners. We use a new data source, the How Couples Meet and Stay Together survey. Results show that family and grade school have been steadily declining in their influence over the dating market for 60 years. In the past 15 years, the rise of the Internet has partly displaced not only family and school, but also neighborhood, friends and the workplace as venues for meeting partners. The Internet increasingly allows Americans to meet and form relationships with perfect strangers, . people with whom they had no previous social tie. Individuals who.
