More and more couples are answering the question, “How did you meet?” with a single word: “online.”

Using a nationally representative survey, Michael J. Rosenfeld and Reuben J. Thomas show in the American Sociological Review (June 2012) that the odds are shrinking for U.S. singles to get fixed up by friends or meet that special someone at the water cooler. Instead, more and more adults are meeting over the Internet—especially middle-aged heterosexuals and all of those seeking a same-sex partner, two groups that traditionally face “thin” dating markets. In fact, in 2008 and 2009, more than 60% of same-sex couples met online, whether through dating websites, chatting, playing online games, or social networking sites, the authors find. And for all groups, relationships begun online were just as robust as those struck up face-to-face.

Simply having web access at home increases a person’s chance of being partnered, according to the study. To launch a relationship, the most important hookup might just be to the Internet.

With the 2012 US presidential election campaign in full swing, the meaning and significance of Barack Obama and his presidency are once again in the spotlight. Has the election of Barack Obama served as the watershed moment for American politics and race relations that many predicted? A number of experts in the field of critical race theory attempt to answer this question in a special issue of Qualitative Sociology, edited by Simone Browne and recent TSP contributor Ben Carrington.

Colleges and universities all tout the value of diversity on campus, but what’s the real payoff? This brand new study finds that in classroom discussions African American students are more likely to invoke media depictions of race/religion and describe unique personal experiences with them, thus enriching and expanding the quality of teaching and learning on these topics.