Can Matchmaking Web sites lower the divorce rate?

Well, lets first see what they enable:

According to Jonathan Abrams, founder of Friendster

New online matchmaking technologies, where based on networks of friends or algorithms, are responsible only for helping people discover possible matches. It is ultimately up to the individuals to make their own relationship decision

Thus if we look at the roles of the online web sites as just a facilitator the answer to lower divorce rates would be No! When can these sites produce better matches? When the algorithms were smart enough to indicate potential matches with high compatibility guarantee. We currently lack the ability to predict the same.

However what is interesting to note is according to Andrea Baker, author of Double Click: Romance and Commitment Among Online Couples -

The online sites make us focus on what other members post in their written profiles, and minimize the immediate power of physical attraction. In getting to know one another before meeting face to face, people can weigh appearance against other appealing traits.

So online dating can reduce the divorce rates by making people focus more on traits that matter more in a successful relationship but often get forgotten.