There are a lot of different places where Americans meet their significant others. School, work, church, social organizations, through friends, just to name a few.

But one commonality in these organic means of meeting someone is that you don’t generally pursue a relationship from the start of getting to know them. A relationship or friendship marinates, it grows.

If you meet someone online, it gets the whole process reversed. Instead of getting to know someone and later seeing if a relationship could blossom, with online dating, the start of the conversation is often aimed at screening someone to see if a relationship could be possible.