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April 1, 2006; Page P1
I n 1995, Matt Frassica, tired of singles bars and set-ups by friends, tried his hand at dating online. There he met, and later married, a woman who also liked long walks in the rain and homemade lasagna. They were even featured in People magazine as a prototype of successful cyber-romance.
Then the fairy tale ended. Mr. Frassica said he realized he was gay, and the divorce was official last year. “We avoided getting to know the real person,” says the 34-year-old corporate recruiter in San Francisco. “All we knew was the profiles of each other.” (His ex-wife confirms that.)
More than a decade after the Internet revolutionized dating—about two million Americans met their spouses online, by one measure—the sites face a new challenge: keeping these couples together. While most sites started out focusing on dating, they are increasingly using their success in the marriage arena as a marketing tool—making the stakes higher if these unions start to go south.
While many happily married couples say they may never have found a mate offline, there are already indications that meeting a spouse on the Web comes with its own set of potential pitfalls. Some divorce cases, for example, highlight false claims made in the online profiles that led to the initial attraction. In addition, of course, there are the natural perils that can come with getting to know a person virtually instead of the old-fashioned way.
Now, sites are stepping up their
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