Growing evidence indicates that the internet is replacing neighborhood, family, and the workplace as a major venue to meet romantic partners in the new millennium (Madden and Lenhart 2006; Rosenfeld and Thomas 2010). In the meantime, the immense network and interactional data available on the internet has been proclaimed the new paradigm in data collection, with the potential to illuminate significant dimensions of social life (Lazer et al. 2009). Utilizing innovative data from one of the largest dating websites in the United States, this paper examines how heterosexual, lesbian and gay online daters interact with online daters of different ethnic-racial groups. We ask: Do people prefer those of similar racial identity or those of higher racial status? Where is the crucial divide among ethnic-racial groups in the dating market? Lastly, what are the roles of gender, sexual orientation, and local racial dynamics? Our preliminary analysis shows strong support for the homophily hypothesis. However, we also find differential treatments when people interact with those of different ethnic-racial backgrounds. Both white men and white women receive favorable treatment when they contact men and women of other groups. Black women and Asian men, by contrast, are often avoided and rejected even when they initiate interaction with men and women of other ethnic-racial backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]