Reis was on a team led by Eli Finkel that published a major review ([M]any aspects of online dating do not appear to improve romantic outcomes and might even undermine them.
For example, the widespread emphasis on profiles as the first introduction to potential partners seems unfortunate in light of the disconnect between what people find attractive in a profile versus what they find attractive when meeting another person face-to-face, a problem exacerbated by comparing multiple profiles side-by-side.
In addition, browsing many profiles fosters judgmental, assessment-oriented evaluations and can cognitively overwhelm users, two processes that can ultimately undermine romantic outcomes.
Furthermore, it seems that the is brief (a few weeks or less), and it can potentially undermine attraction if it yields unrealistic or overly particular expectations that will be disconfirmed upon a face-to-face meeting.
After all, it involves (in most cases) looking through someone’s profile to make sure you have enough stuff in common, and/or sending a bunch of messages before agreeing to meet inperson.
But as it turns out, the information gleaned from profile-perusing or chatting isn’t actually all that predictive when it comes to long-term romantic prospects.