Explore the vast range of titles available.

\"'Your wife is having an affair with my husband. It has caused some trouble in my marriage and I thought you should know.' One phone call in December 2005 begins the compelling, unpredictable story of Fake Missed Connections. A child of divorce with an already fragile sense of trust, Lauer unravels at the betrayal, begins divorce proceedings, and moves back to Brooklyn where he spends too much time alone, fixated on the idea that a murderer from 1898 might be haunting his apartment. Eventually, as he starts to peruse online dating profiles, he becomes obsessed with 'missed connections' precisely because they provide what online dating doesn't: a story. He begins writing phony missed connections to post on Craigslist and, though he feels a stab of guilt when he posts them, he is hopelessly intrigued by the responses he receives. Real documents illuminate Brett's dating adventures, from love (and hate) letters and instant message conversations to Brett's online dating profile and wedding announcement. Fake Missed Connections is an unconventional yet deeply moving look at the modern search for love, the ways in which we fail to communicate, and the quest for a genuine moment of connection\"-- Provided by publisher.

This book examines online dating from the \"inside,\" using in-depth interviews with dating website members to reveal-and keenly analyze-what relationships and romance in the 21st century are really like.The members of the current generation of \"digital guinea pigs\" are true social pioneers as they embrace digital technology to create a new realm of mating, dating, and intimacy in America. Ironically, \"digital dating\" frequently results in an outcome that is exactly opposite to its participants' intended purposes. The Illusion of Intimacy: Problems in the World of Online Dating is more than a thorough investigation of the realities of modern relationships, many of which begin online-one in five, according to Match.com; the book introduces the reader to some of the natives and industry \"users\" who make up its clientele. Author John C. Bridges shows how they have adapted to technology to find new interactions, meet new partners, and share new experiences. The research focuses on the dating sites ranked in the top five by actual members of these sites who interviewed with the author to share their personal stories and experiences, all documented by saved emails and text messages.

The U.S. multiracial population has grown substantially in the past decades, yet little is known about how these individuals are positioned in the racial hierarchies of the dating market. Using data from one of the largest dating websites in the United States, we examine how monoracial daters respond to initial messages sent by multiracial daters with various White/non-White racial and ethnic makeups. We test four different theories: hypodescent, multiracial in-betweenness, White equivalence, and what we call a multiracial dividend effect. We find no evidence for the operation of hypodescent. Asian-White daters, in particular, are afforded a heightened status, and Black-White multiracials are treated as an in-between group. For a few specific multiracial gender groups, we find evidence for a dividend effect, where multiracial men and women are preferred above all other groups, including Whites.

Objective To investigate the prevalence and sociodemographic associations of online dating in a demographically diverse U.S. national cohort of early adolescents. Methods We analyzed cross-sectional data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (Year 2, 2018–2020, ages 11–12; N  = 10,157). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to estimate associations between sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, household income, parental education) and early adolescent-reported online dating behaviors. Results Overall, 0.4% ( n  = 38) of participants reported ever using a dating app. Males (AOR 2.72, 95% CI 1.11–6.78) had higher odds of online dating compared to females, and sexual minority identification (e.g., lesbian, gay, or bisexual; AOR 12.97, 95% CI 4.32–38.96) was associated with greater odds of online dating compared to heterosexual identification. Conclusion Given the occurrence of online dating among early adolescents despite age restrictions, interventions might address age misrepresentation. Adolescent sexual health education may consider incorporating anticipatory guidance on online dating, especially for males and sexual minorities. Future research could further investigate online dating patterns from early to late adolescence and associated health effects.

Sexuality and relationship education (SRE) occurs in many formats. In order to inform best practices, current trends of SRE sources must be characterized. Using an online survey of autistic and neurotypical adults in the United States, we compared eleven potential sources of SRE across nine content areas. Source use did not differ significantly across five of the content areas. Same-aged peers were consulted less often by the autistic adults for flirting, dating, and consent. For partnered sexual behavior, neurotypical adults reported consulting romantic partners significantly more often than autistic adults. Across all groups, use of the internet as a source of information was high. The need for improving SRE access based on existing trends is discussed.

Young men who have sex with men and young transgender women (YMSM-YTW) use online spaces to meet sexual partners with increasing regularity, and research shows that experiences of racism online mimics the real world. We analyzed differences by race and ethnicity in web-based and mobile apps used to meet sexual partners as reported by Chicago-based YMSM-YTW in 2016-2017. A racially and ethnically diverse sample of 643 YMSM-YTW aged 16-29 years were asked to name websites or mobile apps used to seek a sexual partner in the prior 6 months, as well as provide information about sexual partnerships from the same period. We used logistic regression to assess the adjusted association of race and ethnicity with (1) use of any website or mobile apps to find a sexual partner, (2) use of a \"social network\" to find a sexual partner compared to websites or mobile apps predominantly used for dating or hookups, (3) use of specific websites or mobile apps, and (4) reporting successfully meeting a sexual partner online among website or mobile app users. While most YMSM-YTW (454/643, 70.6%) used websites or mobile apps to find sexual partners, we found that Black non-Hispanic YMSM-YTW were significantly less likely to report doing so (comparing White non-Hispanic to Black non-Hispanic: adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.74, 95% CI 1.10-2.76). Black non-Hispanic YMSM-YTW were more likely to have used a social network site to find a sexual partner (comparing White non-Hispanic to Black non-Hispanic: aOR 0.20, 95% CI 0.11-0.37), though this was only reported by one-third (149/454, 32.8%) of all app-using participants. Individual apps used varied by race and ethnicity, with Grindr, Tinder, and Scruff being more common among White non-Hispanic YMSM-YTW (93/123, 75.6%; 72/123, 58.5%; and 30/123, 24.4%, respectively) than among Black non-Hispanic YMSM-YTW (65/178, 36.5%; 25/178, 14%; and 4/178, 2.2%, respectively) and Jack'd and Facebook being more common among Black non-Hispanic YMSM-YTW (105/178, 59% and 64/178, 36%, respectively) than among White non-Hispanic YMSM-YTW (6/123, 4.9% and 8/123, 6.5%, respectively). Finally, we found that while half (230/454, 50.7%) of YMSM-YTW app users reported successfully meeting a new sexual partner on an app, Black non-Hispanic YMSM-YTW app users were less likely to have done so than White non-Hispanic app users (comparing White non-Hispanic to Black non-Hispanic: aOR 2.46, 95% CI 1.50-4.05). We found that Black non-Hispanic YMSM-YTW engaged with websites or mobile apps and found sexual partners systematically differently than White non-Hispanic YMSM-YTW. Our findings give a deeper understanding of how racial and ethnic sexual mixing patterns arise and have implications for the spread of sexually transmitted infections among Chicago's YMSM-YTW.

By the year 2000 more than 350 Internet agencies were plying the email-order marriage trade, and the business of matching up mostly Western men with women from Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America had become an example of globalization writ large. This provocative work opens a window onto the complex motivations and experiences of the people behind the stereotypes and misconceptions that have exploded along with the practice of transnational courtship and marriage. Combining extensive Internet ethnography and face-to-face fieldwork,Romance on a Global Stagelooks at the intimate realities of Filipinas, Chinese women, and U.S. men corresponding in hopes of finding a suitable marriage partner. Through the experiences of those engaged in pen pal relationships-their stories of love, romance, migration, and long-distance dating-this book conveys the richness and dignity of women's and men's choices without reducing these correspondents to calculating opportunists or naive romantics. Attentive to the structural, cultural, and personal factors that prompt women and men to seek marriage partners abroad,Romance on a Global Stagequestions the dichotomies so frequently drawn between structure and agency, and between global and local levels of analysis.

Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulty forming romantic relationships despite having motivation to establish them. The lack of success through traditional, face-to-face dating may lead to pursing relationships through other modalities, such as online dating, which present both advantages and disadvantages for the population. However, little is known about how adults with ASD utilize online dating services. Therefore, a preliminary survey on online dating in a sample of adults with ASD was conducted. Seventeen individuals with ASD participated in an online survey. Results indicated that slightly more than half of the sample used online dating services in the past with variable success. Additionally, participants discussed their opinions of online dating. The most frequently endorsed disadvantage of online dating was safety concerns. The results of the survey suggest that the population may benefit from additional research in learning how to navigate the online dating world successfully and safely.

In 2014 approximately 14.4% of Americans ages 18 to 24 had some type of disability. Compared to their peers without disabilities, disabled emerging adults typically have more difficulty dating and finding romantic and sexual partners. One way that they may escape disability stigma and smaller dating pools is through online dating. However, little is known about their experiences seeking romantic and sexual relationships online, and even less is known about the experiences of emerging adults with disabilities who identify with sexual orientations and have gender identities that are not heterosexual or cisgender. In the present study 27 LGBTQ+ emerging adults with various disabilities, genders, and sexual orientations completed 47 item online surveys before COVID in which they described their experiences with online dating and starting and sustaining romantic relationships. Results from qualitative data analyses suggest that rather than being neutral spaces that exist separately from stigma and social prejudice, dating apps and web sites typically perpetuate normative ideas of ableism, sexuality, and gender and stimulate questions of timing of disability disclosure. Despite challenges, however, online dating also offers opportunities to interact with multiple interested daters and appears to offer LGBTQ+ emerging adults with disabilities an often beneficial though sometimes vexing venue for relationship development.

The more politically conservative Americans are, the more restrictive their sexual attitudes are. A natural follow-up question is how this difference in attitudes relates to actual behavior. But self-reports of sexual behavior may be compromised by a social desirability bias that is influenced by the very sexual attitudes at issue. We employed a non-self-reported measure of sexual behavior: usage of the adultery-focused dating website Ashley Madison. Linking an August 2015 leak of user data from Ashley Madison to 2012 voter registration rolls from five U.S. states, we found 80,000 matches between 200,000 Ashley Madison user accounts and 50 million voters. According to simple rates in the sample, and also to predictively validated regression models controlling for state, gender, and age, we found that Democrats were least likely to use Ashley Madison, Libertarians were most likely, and Republicans, Greens, and unaffiliated voters were in between. Our results provide support for theories arguing that people with stricter sexual attitudes are paradoxically more likely to engage in deviant sexual behavior.