A study to be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest found that online dating sites are no better at helping you meet your life-long mate than the local pub. That's bad news for those of you who might be looking for love but the good news is that there's a site that knows you much better than any online dating service: Facebook.

If you're looking for love, Facebook might be a great place to start. According to Facebook, the relationship category with the most active users is "Single".

Current Relationship Status Trends on Facebook*

• 37.4% are “Single”
• 31.0% are “Married”
• 21.6% are “In Relationship”
• 5.2% are “Engaged”
• 2.0% “It’s Complicated”
• 1.2% “Open Relationship”

Relationship Status Updates in 2011**

Of those who changed their status in 2011, the largest group was "Single".

• 7.6% updated their status to “Engaged”
• 2.6% updated to “It’s Complicated”
• 20.7% updated to “Married”
• 25.2% updated to “In A Relationship”
• 31.9% updated to “Single”

* - Active users with specified status
**- Numbers reflect only those users who changed their relationship status at some point in 2011

Okay, there are plenty of single people on Facebook, but how do you meet them?

Here are two stories of people who met their spouses by taking Facebook's advice and connecting with friends whom Facebook suggested.

Amanda

In December 2010, Amanda was busy pursuing her dream of being an actress in Los Angeles when Facebook suggested that she become friends with Tim, a former high school classmate. She didn't really know Tim in high school but took Facebook's suggestion and added Tim as a friend. The next night, Tim reached out to Amanda through Facebook Chat, and two began a nine-hour marathon chat that continued until 6 the next morning. During the chat, Amanda discovered that Tim was a private in the Ohio National Guard and still lived in her hometown. Tim discovered during the chat that he wanted to marry Amanda.

They continued their Facebook chats and in January 2011, Tim flew Amanda back to Ohio so they could meet in person. During that three-week visit, Amanda realized Tim was the man she wanted to marry.

She returned to California after her visit with Tim and on Valentine's Day 2011, Tim got word that he would be deployed to Afghanistan in June. He broke the news to Amanda, encouraging her to stay in California to continue pursuing her dream of being an actress. Although their three-week visit was the only time they had been together, Amanda knew she had to return to Ohio immediately to be with Tim.

Tim flew to California, where they packed her belongings in her car and headed back to Ohio. On a stop in Las Vegas, they considered getting married, but both wanted a more traditional wedding with friends and family attending.

On April 11, 2011, they married in Ohio and were together until Tim deployed to Afghanistan. By then, Amanda was pregnant. They stayed in touch almost daily, using either Facebook Chat or Skype so Tim could see his wife's growing belly.

Using Skype, Tim witnessed the birth of his new daughter, Brooklyn, from half a world away in Afghanistan. Brooklyn was 2 weeks old when Tim was able to return home on leave.

Tim returned to Afghanistan in December, and the family continues to keep in touch through the Internet. Amanda posts pictures and videos of Brooklyn on Facebook and uses Skype and Facebook Chat to connect with Tim.

"Thank goodness for technology, because we are able to stay in contact every day, except when he goes on a mission," Amanda said. "I would like to thank Facebook for helping me find my husband and the father of my daughter. Facebook has been such a great way for us to keep in touch. Without Facebook, I wouldn't have my family."

Sam and Patience at their wedding, top, and at the Sadie Hawkins dance in high school.

Patience, 41, was single and living in New York City when she received a Facebook friend request from Sam, a fellow graduate of her high school in Connecticut. She remembered Sam, the class clown who was friends with everyone. She added Sam as a friend, doubting that he actually remembered her.

Patience had been a shy wallflower 26 years earlier in high school -- she was a sophomore and Sam was a senior. She recalled a Sadie Hawkins dance where she had mustered up the courage to invite a date, only to have him abandon her at the dance. That night would have left a painful scar on her high school memories if it hadn't been for Sam. He pulled her onto the dance floor for one song.

"I felt so great because someone who was such a cool guy was paying attention to me," Patience said. Her heart soared when a friend of his took a picture of the two of them after the song ended.

After that dance, Patience and Sam lost touch. Patience had tried online dating, while Sam got married and then divorced and spent time living abroad.

"After about 15 years I just got really tired of dating," Patience said. "I was 41, and I was done with dating. I was feeling pretty good about spending the rest of my life by myself, doing my own thing."

Patience was in an industry that had ironic implications for her. "I edit romance novels for a living. Reading about romance every day kind of killed the idea that I might experience it."

But that changed after Sam and Patience became Facebook friends. The two began a relationship. They were soon talking for a couple of hours a day on Skype -- she in New York City and he in Israel and then later in Switzerland where he was teaching French.

"For me there were butterflies immediately," Patience said. "He was a stranger, but he really wasn't a stranger. I knew all of his friends, and I knew where he came from."