1) The document summarizes research from a large study on how couples use the internet and how it impacts their relationships. It examined topics like where online couples meet, how they maintain their relationships online, perceptions of appropriate online behavior, and monitoring of partners' online activities. 2) Key findings include women being more concerned about time spent online and online behaviors, and more likely to monitor their partners' activities. Age was also related to decreased monitoring and increased relationship satisfaction. 3) The research was conducted through an online survey of over 35 countries and provides opportunities to study the theoretical role of the internet in relationships and for future academic research partnerships.

1. Me, My Spouse and the Internet: Reconfiguring Partners and Relationships Bill Dutton & Nai Li

2. eHarmony and the OII Los Angeles British Consul Model for Dating Business Opportunities Growing into UK Market Matching with OII eHarmony Local, cultural sensitivity Branding Data Protection Issues OII Online Dating? Reconfiguring Access Interesting Case Capacity Building

4. Phase I (Feb 2008—Feb 2009): Project design and pre-testing

5. Phase II (Feb 2009—Mar 2011): Main fieldwork

6. Phase III (Mar 2011 – Feb 2013): Worldwide

7. 36 country, Pan-European surveyMe, My Spouse and the Internet Study

9. Fieldwork: two phases

10. Phase I: Australia, Spain, UK and USA -- SSI

11. Phase II: three waves -- TolunaWave 1: Mar - May 2010 (16 countries, 9 Languages) Wave 2: June - July 2010 ( Brazil and Japan ) Wave 3: Nov 2010 - Feb 2011 ( Eastern Europe and Asia) Research Design and Method

13. Survey software

14. DatStatIlume toLimesurvey

15. The questionnaire

16. 45 minutes for individuals / 90 minutes for couples

17. Only couple completions is treated as a complete

18. Multiple language options for most European countriesResearch Design and Method

20. Attraction and selection

21. Maintaining relationships

22. NetiquetteResearch Questions

24. Where do ‘we’ meet?

25. Do ‘we’ meet different people online?

26. Maintaining relationships

27. Which tools do ‘we’ use to communicate?

28. What do ‘we’ communicate about on the Internet?

29. Netiquette:

30. Which expectations do ‘we ‘have about online behaviour (of our partners)

31. What do ‘we’ consider acceptable online behaviour?Research Questions

34. Sample and Design (Case study: UK & Australia)

35. Sample Composition

36. Attraction and Selection Question: Did you first meet your current partner online or offline?

37. Age groups of couples who met online Question: Did you first meet your current partner online or offline? In what year were you born?

38. Where did online couples meet Question: Did you first meet your current partner online or offline? Where online did you meet?

39. Couples who met online by Age Difference Question: In what year were you born?

40. Couples who met online by Education Difference Question: What is the highest level of education that you have attained?

41. Importance of Partner’s Attributes Question: When you think about your marriage, how important are the following attributes?

42. Couples who met online by Differences in Interests Question: Please use the scale (1-5) below to rate your interest in the following things.

43. Commercial Meets Academic Research Degrees? Time horizons? Deadlines Predictability: unanticipated changes Branding And more … Opportunities for Academic Research?

45. Truth/Lies paradox

47. Managing relationships What explains which media people use to discuss problems People with more digital skills are more likely to use technologies to discuss problems in the relationship (independent of how long they’ve used the Internet) Younger people discuss problems more frequently face to face than older people, but there is no difference in their use of email or instant messaging (IM) for communicating about problems Couples with higher marital satisfaction are more likely to discuss problems when they can get instant feedback (face to face or through IM, but not through email) Increases in marital conflict and avoidance behaviour increases communication through email and instant messaging but not face to face communication Discussing problems face to face is linked to less frequent discussion of problems through email and IM A tendency to discuss problems through one ICT (Phone, SMS) is linked to discussing problems through other ICTs as well and is related to less frequent discussion of problems face to face.

49. 43% of couples has dissimilar time use patterns – Cause for conflict?

50. Does it matter whether husband or wife is evaluated?Base. All couples who completed more than 90% of survey (N=929)

51. Netiquette: Differences in use Base. All couples who completed more than 90% of survey (N=929) It seems that women are more worried about the time they and their husbands spend online Do you ever feel that you spend too much time on the Internet? Do you feel that your partner spends too much time on the Internet?

52. Netiquette: Different activities (OxIS) Activities in the last year. Internet Users: OxIS 2007 N=1,578

55. Netiquette: Specific activities - differences When partners in a couple disagree it is more likely that the husband finds a certain behaviour acceptable in his wife than that the wife finds it acceptable in her husband This is especially true for viewing of ‘adult’ sites Base. All couples who completed more than 90% of survey (N=929)

56. Netiquette: Monitoring Have you ever checked up on your partner’s activities without them knowing, by doing the following? ‘Reading their emails’ (20%), ‘Reading their SMS’(20%), ‘Checking their browser history’ (13%), ‘Reading their IM logs’(5%), ‘Using monitoring software’(2%), and ‘By pretending to be another person’(1%)

58. In 44% of couples at least one of the partners monitors the other partner’s behaviourHusband only monitor Wife only monitor No surveillance Base. All couples who completed more than 90% of survey (N=929) Both monitor

59. Monitoring: Differences The wife is for all these behaviours more likely to monitor her husbands behaviour than her husband is to monitor hers. Base. All couples who completed more than 90% of survey (N=929)

60. Explaining surveillance

62. Age is related to decrease in monitoring (directly and through higher satisfaction with relationship) – This cannot be explained by experience with the internet

64. Online dating could offer opportunities for exploring theoretical perspectives on the Internet’s role

65. OII has been able to extend its capabilities:

66. Web-based surveys

67. Multi-National

68. EC Study of Media Literacy

69. Comscore, INSEAD, WEF Collaboration