# 32% of Millennials Want Online Relationships > A December 2025 survey of millennials found strong openness to long-distance and online-only relationships. Here's what the numbers mean this winter. Canonical: https://thedevotionformula.com/articles/virtual-relationships-this-winter-32-percent/ Published: 2026-10-19 --- You've been texting someone for weeks, maybe months, and the two of you have never been in the same room. Or you're already in a relationship where the miles between you have started to feel less like a temporary problem and more like the shape the relationship is going to take, at least for now. Either way, you're wondering if a mostly, or fully, online connection can actually work, or if you're just settling for less than you deserve. > **The short answer:** A significant share of millennials surveyed say they're open to relationships that stay largely or entirely online, according to one December 2025 survey by a dating platform. It's a single snapshot, and newer 2026 figures aren't available yet. ## How many millennials are actually open to virtual-only relationships? More than you'd probably guess. Dating.com's Millennial Intimacy Report, a survey of 2,000 millennials launched in December 2025, found that 55% were open to a long-distance relationship that may never become in-person, and 7% said they prefer that format ([Dating.com](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-millennial-intimacy-report-how-dating-friendship-and-emotional-support-are-being-rebuilt-in-the-digital-era-302636115.html), December 2025). The same survey found that 37% would consider a fully online relationship specifically to avoid navigating a partner's habits, routines, and daily logistics, with 8% preferring that setup outright. And another 32% said they want online relationships because in-person interactions feel draining ([Dating.com](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-millennial-intimacy-report-how-dating-friendship-and-emotional-support-are-being-rebuilt-in-the-digital-era-302636115.html), December 2025). Worth noting: this is a branded survey from a virtual-intimacy platform, not a government or academic study. It surveyed millennials only, and it's a snapshot of attitudes, not a verified national statistic, so no single number from it should be treated as gospel. Still, if you've been quietly wondering whether wanting a relationship that lives mostly on your phone makes you unusual, the survey suggests you're not alone. ## The misconception that keeps you second-guessing yourself Somewhere along the way, "virtual relationship" became shorthand for "not a real one." The assumption is that only a tiny minority would ever consider it. The Dating.com numbers push back on that. When over half of the millennials surveyed say they're open to a long-distance relationship that may never become in-person, and close to a third say they want online relationships because in-person interactions drain them, that doesn't look like a fringe preference. It suggests a meaningful share of people redefining what counts as a real relationship. You don't have to defend your long-distance or online-only relationship to anyone who hasn't looked at the numbers. ## What does a virtual-only relationship actually mean in practice? It helps to separate two things people tend to lump together. A **long-distance relationship** usually has an endpoint in mind. You met, you're apart for work, school, or circumstance, and there's a shared assumption that you'll close the physical gap eventually. A **virtual-only relationship** doesn't require that assumption. The connection lives in calls, texts, shared media, maybe games or shows watched "together" over video, and there's no fixed plan to meet in person, or the meeting is far enough out that it isn't the organizing goal of the relationship right now. Neither is automatically healthier or more serious than the other. What matters is whether both people are honest about which one they're actually in, because the expectations are different. A relationship you're treating as a bridge to something offline needs different maintenance than one you both intend to keep mostly virtual. ## Pros and cons of choosing an online-only relationship The logistics argument shows up clearly in the survey data. Nearly four in ten respondents (37%) said they'd consider going fully online specifically to sidestep a partner's habits, routines, or logistics. That's not nothing. Living with, or near, another person's schedule, mess, family, and quirks is genuinely hard, and some people are more drawn to a relationship structure that skips that layer entirely, at least for a season. The draining-interaction piece matters too. If in-person socializing costs you more energy than it gives back, on a bad day, a bad week, or in general, a relationship that runs mostly through text and video calls can feel like it lets you show up as yourself without the sensory or social overhead. The tradeoff is real, though. Physical affection, the small unplanned moments that build trust, and simply being in a room with someone are harder to replicate virtually. Miscommunication is also easier when body language and tone aren't there to fill the gaps; a flat text can read as cold when it wasn't meant that way. None of this means a virtual relationship can't work. In one study using a nationally representative sample of 870 people, those in long-distance relationships reported relationship quality and dedication at least as high as those in close-proximity relationships, though they were just as likely to have broken up by the follow-up ([Kelmer et al., Family Process (PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23763685/), 2013). That study covered long-distance couples, not virtual-only ones. It does suggest this kind of relationship needs more intentional structure than one where proximity is doing some of the relationship-building for you automatically. There's also a practical upside worth naming: a virtual-only or long-distance relationship gives you more room to keep your own life intact. Your friendships, your routines, your apartment exactly the way you like it. For some women that's a genuine relief rather than a compromise, especially after a relationship where merging households too fast cost them their footing. That doesn't mean distance is the goal. It means it isn't automatically the downgrade it gets treated as. ## Signs the relationship is actually working, not just running on autopilot A virtual relationship can drift into a routine of texts and calls that feel more like a habit than a connection. A few markers tend to separate the ones that are genuinely working from the ones coasting on inertia. You're both still initiating, not just responding. If every check-in, every "let's talk tonight," is coming from you, that's information, not a coincidence. Conversations still go somewhere. Catching up on the day is fine, but if months go by without talking about where things are headed, what "virtual-only for now" actually means for both of you, that's worth naming directly instead of hoping it resolves itself. You feel steadier after most conversations, not more anxious. Some post-call unease is normal, especially early on. A consistent pattern of feeling worse after talking to someone you're supposedly building a relationship with is worth paying attention to, not explaining away. ## How to make a long-distance or virtual relationship feel real If you're already in one, or thinking about staying in one through the colder months, a few habits tend to make the difference between a relationship that drifts and one that holds. **Build a communication rhythm you both actually keep.** Not a rigid schedule, but a pattern: morning check-ins, a standing video call two or three nights a week, whatever fits your lives. Consistency reads as reliability even when you can't be in the same room. **Say the thing you'd normally show.** In person, a lot of reassurance happens through touch or presence. Virtually, you have to say it out loud: that you're thinking about them, that the relationship matters, that you noticed something they did. It can feel unnatural at first. It stops feeling that way once it's a habit. **Protect against the story your brain writes in silence.** A slow reply or a quiet day can spiral into an assumption that something's wrong. It usually isn't. Naming that pattern out loud, something like "I know I read into gaps sometimes, can we just check in when it happens," does more for a virtual relationship than almost anything else. **Have an honest conversation about which category you're in.** Long-distance with an endpoint, or virtual-only for now. That one conversation prevents a lot of quiet resentment later. **Give the relationship texture, not just contact.** Watching the same show on your own schedule and texting about it, sending a photo of something that made you think of them, playing an online game together once a week, these small shared rituals do more than another long phone call. They give the two of you something to reference that isn't just "we talked yesterday." If you're navigating this with a partner you care about and the distance is starting to feel less temporary than you'd like, programs built specifically for long-distance relationships exist for a reason. Long Distance Allure, created by Matthew Coast, is one option aimed at women in long-distance relationships. The vendor's page states a 60-day refund period, so you can see whether the material fits your relationship before deciding it's worth keeping ([Commitment Connection](https://commitmentconnection.com/long-distance-allure/)). ## Is this new, or has it been building for a while? There isn't enough verified data here to say definitively whether virtual relationships are more common now than during the pandemic years specifically. What the December 2025 survey does show is that, at that snapshot in time, openness to long-distance and online formats was already common among the millennials surveyed. Whatever combination of factors got things here, remote work, dating across cities, better video-call tools, habits formed a few years back, it may have landed somewhere many people now consider ordinary rather than a fallback. If you've been treating cuffing season as a reason to rush into something in-person just because [October has arrived and the air is getting cold](/articles/cuffing-season-explained-for-women/), the survey suggests you can slow down on that assumption too. A relationship that stays mostly virtual through the winter isn't a consolation prize. In the survey, 7% to 8% said they prefer long-distance or fully online formats outright. ## Your next step You don't need to justify the shape your relationship takes to anyone who isn't in it. If you're already navigating a long-distance connection and want it to hold up through the winter instead of quietly drifting, start with the communication rhythm above. From there, decide whether you're [working toward closing the physical distance](/articles/getting-back-together-after-months-apart/) or building something you're comfortable keeping mostly virtual, and look at [what's actually inside the relationship programs built for this](/articles/his-secret-obsession-review/) before you invest more time guessing. It's easier to build a relationship the two of you have agreed on the terms of than one you're both quietly assuming about.