Recently, Erin Sumner, an assistant professor in the department of human communication, received media attention for her contributions to research on online dating. She was featured on Channel 4 news on Nov. 7, and the study has been publicized in the Huffington Post and the San Antonio Express-News.

Sumner and her colleagues studied the ideal amount of time online daters should wait to meet each other in person.

“We looked at whether or not the amount of time you waited to meet up mattered,” Sumner said. “The key result was that after about two or three weeks, there was actually a negative outcome when people waited too long.”

Sumner said that the researchers theorize that this happens because when daters wait too long to meet in person, they develop high expectations for their partner that may be unrealistic and are disappointed if the partner does not live up to these expectations.

The researchers plan to continue the study in the future by looking at long-term results of online dating.