By Shirley S. Wang

Does online dating work?

Well, it’s a great way to meet people, but not for leading you to the partner of your dreams, according to a comprehensive new review published in this month’s issue of the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest.

The authors, all academic researchers without any financial ties to dating services, combed through the literature on relationships (those begun both on- and offline)  and other areas of psychology to take a stab at answering the question.

Using an internet dating site has the advantage over in-person dating in expanding one’s access to the dating pool. That’s especially helpful for people who tend to face more limited opportunities, such as working, single parents without much free time or those with a minority sexual orientation, says study author Eli Finkel, a psychology professor at Northwestern University. In addition, users know immediately that their matches are available and interested in a romantic relationship, in contrast to the uncertainties surrounding meeting someone in, say, a bar.

But, the typical online dating site — where individuals view profiles of those to whom they are matched based on certain characteristics or values — doesn’t improve one’s chance of meeting a compatible mate, according to Finkel.

That’s because it’s really hard to judge chemistry or rapport — so-called “experiential” information — from searchable information, like height, age and education. And, people may not even make decisions based on the characteristics they say are important — they might say kindness is important, for example, but then not go for the super-kind people any more frequently than someone who says intelligence is really important. Ultimately, this means that online services are matching people based on characteristics that haven’t been shown to predict relationship success, says Finkel.

A prime example is similarity, which some dating sites say is the key to finding a suitable mate and serves as the basis for complicated matching algorithms.  In relationship research, similarity between couples doesn’t well predict the long-term success of the relationship. Rather, people simply perceive that they are more similar to people they like, says Finkel.

The take-home message isn’t that people should stop on-line dating, says Finkel. Rather they should “use the online dating site to get off-line,” he says.

Don’t spend extensive periods of time scouring profiles and interacting electronically. Instead, use the profiles to find people who look interesting or appealing, then relatively quickly try to meet that person — in a public setting, for safety’s sake — to assess whether that spark is there in-person, he says.

Those who like to go out and are willing to be spontaneous may find more success using new “mobile” dating options where users are see via smartphone who else signed up for the service is near where they are, and can immediately meet up for coffee to assess whether there’s chemistry, says Finkel.

“There’s no substitute for face-to-face communication,” says Finkel.

Bonus: The Psychology of Online Dating

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