Any lingering stigma about finding true love online seems to be fading, particularly among older adults, researchers found.

In a study of 175 newlywed couples scientists at Iowa State University said those who met through online dating agencies, or social networking sites, tended to be older than other couples who met through traditional ways offline.

They were also less likely to be marrying for the first time and had shorter courtships before tying the knot -- 18.5 months instead of 42 months.

"In many cases, there are real structural forces that encourage the support and use of these technologies," said Alicia Cast, an associate professor of sociology at the university.

"And one of them is just structural constraints on people's time -- such as people who have kids, or have full-time jobs, or work long or extensive hours," she added in a statement.

But the online spouses were as attractive, intelligent and had the same self-esteem levels of the offline couples.

Online dating agencies have gained in popularity and acceptability. A recent survey by Forbes.com that named New York as the best U.S. city for singles found it achieved the No. 1 position because it has more people with active online dating accounts than any other city in the country.

U.S.-based eHarmony, which launched in the United States in 2000, claims an average of 236 of its members marry every day in the United States as a result of being matched on the site.

eHarmony is also available in Canada, Australia and Britain.

Cast and her graduate assistant Jamie McCartney studied data on the couples over a three-year period. Twenty five couples in the study had met online.

"My understanding is that there are very few studies that have been able to simultaneously get access to a source of couples who met through more conventional means, along with those who choose to meet people online," said Cast.

一项研究发现，在网上寻找真爱似乎已经不再是一件令人羞愧的事，尤其是对于大龄成年人而言。

艾奥瓦州立大学的一组研究人员对175对新婚夫妇开展的研究发现，通过在线交友网站或社交网站结识的夫妇通常比通过传统的“线下”方式结识的夫妇年龄大。

此外，他们是初婚的几率较小，而且在结婚前谈恋爱的时间也较短，仅为18.5个月，而传统的谈恋爱时间是42个月。

艾奥瓦州立大学社会学副教授艾莉西亚•卡斯特说：“在很多情况下，真实存在的‘结构性力量’促进了人们对这些技术的支持和使用。”

她在一项声明中说：“其中一种力量就是人们时间上的结构性限制，比如有孩子、全职工作或工作时间较长的人。”

不过，通过网络结识的配偶和在现实中寻得的一样迷人、聪慧、有自尊。

如今，在线交友网站的受欢迎程度和接受程度越来越高。近日由福布斯网站开展的一项调查评选纽约为美国最佳单身城市，因为纽约拥有活跃在线交友帐号的人比美国其他任何城市都要多。

于2000年创建于美国的eHarmony婚恋网站称，美国通过该网站结识的会员平均每天有236人喜结连理。

eHarmony在加拿大、澳大利亚和英国也有分支。

卡斯特和她的研究生助手杰米•麦克卡特尼在三年内对这些夫妇的资料进行了研究。其中25对夫妇通过网络相识。

卡斯特说：“现在很少有研究能同时获得通过传统渠道和通过网络渠道结识的夫妇的两手资料。”