Do you Google a potential date?

C’mon we’ve all been there – you’ve made contact with a hot guy or girl online and you’re thinking about meeting up so decide to check that everything is what they say it is, you type their name into Google, under various combinations and with and without quotation marks, where they live, their job and well, any information to help you in your quest.

Do you think it’s a good idea or a bit creepy to google a potential date? I’m of the thinking that actually if your new friend say they look like Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt, internet stalking – sorry research – is a good idea before you go on a date and meet the equivalent of Jocelyn Wilderstein or Shane MacGowan waiting for you at the bar. Added to that is the safety element. If they say they are like Harry Styles but are more Mickey Rourke then some alarm bells are going to ring right?

Well, if you do partake in the odd Google or Facebook search you’re not alone. A new study has found that 30 per cent of people who use online dating sites search for information on potential partners prior to going on dates with them. And if you’re aged between 18-29, this figure rises to 41 per cent. And in case we didn’t need to proof, the research by the Pew Research Centre in Washington showed that 50 per cent of people check out their exes via search engines and social network sites, like Facebook. Duh! (The other 50 per cent must have been stretching the truth a bit, we think).

The study interviewed 2,252 internet daters from across the pond about websites and search engines and the people who scope out potential partners online his tripled since 2008, according to the latest figures. Two thirds of those people have gone on dates with people they have met online and 23 per cent have found love. Hurrah!

What is your take on Googling prior to a date? Good, bad or just if you find a window of time one day? Tell us @lovestruck