A match made on Facebook

The study suggests that compared to other ways of meeting online, meeting through social networking sites presents no more of a risk of divorce or separation and is associated with equal or greater marital satisfaction.

They were more likely to be satisfied in their marriage than those who met in traditional offline ways, such as through friends.

"It is a low-risk, high-reward potential place to meet someone," said main author Jeffrey Hall, an associate professor of communication studies from University of Kansas, Lawrence.

You do not have to pay for it, you do not have to create a profile that you would not share with friends and family anyway, and it has a built-in way of recognising people that you might want to be friends with, he added.

Compared to those who met offline, the social networking couples were also younger, married more recently and more likely to be male and frequent Internet users with higher incomes, the study found.

The researchers looked at 18,527 Americans who married between 2005 and 2012.

They compared those who met through social networking sites to those who first connected online in other ways, such as Internet dating sites or chat rooms.

He then looked at how social networking site couples compared to those who met offline.

"Social networking sites bring together couples in much the same way that traditional methods do and keep them within a close network of similar people," Hall explained.

Younger generations were more likely to meet through social networking sites because they were early adopters of the technology and had more expansive friendship networks.

Hall's advice for those looking to find love on Facebook - start saying yes to friend requests.

The paper was published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking.