There's nothing new about that, but what is new is the way they're meeting.

這並沒有什麼新鮮的，不同的是他們相遇的方式。

Our cover this week in The Economist is on modern love and the digital dating platforms that provide it.

我們《經濟學人》這週將談論現代愛情，以及促成它的線上交友平台。

In America today, about one third of marriages begin online and around the world there are 200 million people using dating platforms.

美國現今有大約三分之一的婚姻是從網路開始的，在全世界有大約兩億人在使用交友網站。

The biggest change is that online dating has massively expanded the pool of partners that a person can potentially meet.

最大的不同是，網路交友大大地擴展了一個人可能會遇到的潛在伴侶。

Before, you might have been limited to the bar or your social group or your class, whereas now, you have tens of thousands of people to choose from online.

在此之前，你可能會被限制在酒吧、你的社交圈或階級，而現在，你有數以萬計的對象在網上供你挑選。

Online dating does have real problems though.

然而，線上交友的確存有問題。

Before the age of the Internet, dating was more of a social activity and you could always tell yourself that you were just having a drink in a bar with your friends.

在網路時代之前，約會更像是一種社交活動，你可以告訴自己，你只是跟朋友來酒吧喝酒。

Online dating takes that away and it's just you and the market.

線上交友就不是這樣了，就只有你和交友市場。

Whatever your place in it is harshly apparent to you.

你在其中的位置殘酷地明顯。

This can cause anxiety disorders and online dating has even been linked to depression.

這可能造成焦慮症，交友網站也跟憂鬱症有關聯。

According to messaging patterns analyzed on dating platforms, Asian men are ranked as much less desirable than Asian women.

根據交友平台上的訊息模式分析，亞洲男人相較於亞洲女人要沒有魅力很多。

Black women are ranked as less desirable than black men by the same measure.

同樣地，黑人女性也相較於黑人男性要來得沒有魅力許多。

There are biases in terms of genderㄝ, too.

性別偏見也存在於交友平台。

Desirability of women starts high at 18 and then drops all the way through their lives.

女性的魅力最大時是在 18 歲的時候，然後隨著年齡遞減。

In contrast, men start off less desirable and then their desirableness grows and grows until their 50 and then it trails off slowly.

相反地，男性的魅力一開始較低，然後開始提升，持續提升到他們 50 歲，然後慢慢地減少。

However, there is evidence that online dating is driving an increase in interracial marriages.

然而，有證據證明線上交友增加不同種族間的婚姻。

At least in America, you can, even if you don't tend to, meet people of other races to yourself.

至少在美國是這樣，你可以遇見跟你不同種族的人，就算你並沒有刻意這樣做。

Overall then, online dating seems to be a good thing.

總體來說，線上交友似乎是件好事。

It does have its problems, but it's helping people to bypass social barriers and to find better partners faster.

它的確存有一些問題，但它幫助人們跨越種族的隔閡，並更快找到更好的伴侶。