Study: Online Dating Couples Older

The couples also have shorter courtships, averaging 18.5 months of prenuptial dating in comparison with 42 months for couples who met in more traditional ways, sociologist Alicia Cast said in a release Friday.

Cast and graduate assistant Jamie McCartney collected information from 175 central Iowa newlyweds, 25 of whom met online through social networking sites or dating services.

Of the 25 couples, many had children or demanding jobs, which reduced the time available to date, Cast said in a study called "Simply Clicking: A Direct Comparison of Newlymarried Online and Offline Couples."

"In many cases, there are some real structural forces that encourage the support and use of these (online) technologies," Cast said. "And one of them is just structural constraints on people's time."