  We used to marry people to whom we were somehow connected. Since we were more
connected to people similar to us, we were also likely to marry someone from
our own race. However, online dating has changed this pattern; people who meet
online tend to be complete strangers. We investigate the effects of those
previously absent ties on the diversity of modern societies.
  We find that social integration occurs rapidly when a society benefits from
new connections. Our analysis of state-level data on interracial marriage and
broadband adoption (proxy for online dating) suggests that this integration
process is significant and ongoing.
