Research has shown that people who are trying to find love online, are actually staying single for longer.

Psychologist Emma Kenny said that one reason for this could be that people are becoming too dependent on communicating online, and are losing their ability to approach people in real life:

“The problem is, online dating breeds impatience and insecurity. You're suddenly inundated with so many potential love interests that you stop investing the same amount of effort into meeting actual people offline.

“Of course, it's going to be harder to take the plunge to start up a conversation with a stranger in a bar than sending an anonymous message to a man with a witty dating profile – especially because you can just log off if it gets uncomfortable, rather than finding yourself trapped in an awkward conversation.

“But online dating was designed to enhance your love life – not replace it altogether.”

It’s easy to fall into the trap of investing all your romantic efforts into online dating, but remember, there’s a big bad world out there, full of eligible men. And they don’t all have smartphones!