Falling in Love Today

Millions of people around the world use internet sites and dating apps to seek out love, sex, and friendship. Who are they and how many of them actually find what they are looking for? What happens to couples who originate online when they transition into real-life interaction? Virtual intermediaries appear to offer novel opportunities, unprecedented gratification, and much freedom, but they also involve old anxieties and new risks. To help understand such forms of “love 4.0”, the author explores the changing and complex realm of online dating and tells the stories of those who populate that world.

Rita D’Amico is a psychotherapist and a researcher at the Italian National Research Council’s Institute for Cognitive Sciences and Technologies.