The Internet is affecting dating and intimacy, according to an article published in Swinburne University’s International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society (IJETS).

In Dating and Intimacy in the 21st Century: The Use of Online Dating Sites in Australia, University of Melbourne researchers, Dr Millsom Henry-Waring and Dr Jo Barraket conducted a web audit of more than 60 online dating sites and in-depth interviews with users of online dating services.

The researchers were looking at why people use online dating services and whether online dating alters the very nature of intimacy, emotion and dating.

They found that for many, using online dating sites was an informal and reasonably effective way of developing one’s social and intimate circle, even if there were still some signs of stigma.

According to the authors a central and important feature of communicating online was through the drafting of one’s personal profile – which was seen as your own personal ‘shop window’.

“Many of our participants talked about the fact that people were judged on the basis of how they looked, but also how their photos and profiles ‘talked’ online,” the study said.

The researchers also found that the nature of the communication between participants was revealing, due to the intensity, immediacy and in some ways, the almost addictive nature of the interaction.

“We have suggested that a type of ‘hypercommunication’ occurs in the types of communication and also in the speed and intensity of the contact. As found in other studies, this appears to be facilitated by the informal and dis-inhibitive nature of the medium.”