Most alarming stat: 30% of relationships will begin life online by 2026: With around 296 mn people using online dating services today, some companies predict that 30% of relationships will start online by 2026, The Economist reports (watch, runtime: 03:32). Mashable estimates that by 2040, 70 percent of couples will meet online. But what is the broader social impact of this new way of finding love? While online dating has been useful in connecting people across the globe who would’ve otherwise been unlikely to meet and has arguably made it easier for minorities and the middle-aged to find partners, the risk of meeting strangers remains a concern, the magazine points out. Also, seemingly endless choice could make it tough for some people to ever settle.

Unlike Tinder, the new Facebook dating app, already available in Colombia, Canada and Thailand, forces its users to say ‘what up’ before moving onto their next victim (ahem, potential partner). A useful feature that the still-on-trial app has is that users can see what events and groups other users are on and decide whether they would like to get together with them, the FT notes. There’s no way of knowing whether the Facebook dating app will ever make it to our part of the world, but we personally can’t think of anything more terrifying than the thought of giving the social media giant access to such personal info…oh, wait, scratch that.