The two biggest sports couples of 2013 — Manti Te'o and Lennay Kekua, and AJ McCarron and Katherine Webb — met on Twitter.

Business Insider says it isn't a coincidence.

It's a reflection of how athletes form relationships in 2013.

Since at least 2010, athletes have openly used Twitter as a tool to meet women. Some use it to find one-time hook-ups, while others use it to find full-time girlfriends. The inherent risks of beginning a relationship with a stranger online — which apparently sunk Te'o — can be negated with the slightest bit of due diligence.

The fact that Manti meet Kekua over Twitter isn't a "red flag," it's an example of a common practice that's happening all the time.

Paul Bissonnette of the Phoenix Coyotes is one of the most outspoken players in the NHL.

He also openly finds women to go on dates with on Twitter.

Last year, he explained to Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated how it works:

Sports Illustrated: "Have you ever met a female follower from Twitter for a date or anything like that?"

Bissonnette: "Oh yeah, are you kidding me? Once they start following you and you see they comment you, if they're hot I just add them on Twitter. And then they usually fire me a message like, 'Oh hey thanks for the add.' And that just gets it going. I probably met up with a good six or seven."

So if he gets followed by a girl, he looks at her Twitter avatar, and follows her back if she's someone he wants to meet up with.

Bissonnette also told SI that he can figure out if a person is serious or not with a phone conversation:

"You can get a sense through phone conversation. Once direct-messaging starts, it's only a matter of time before you start talking, right? You can gauge in a phone conversation whether it's going to be a normal or messed up experience."

We know this happens all the time.

Browse through any urban blog or any story about an embarrassing athlete direct message fail (where a person accidentally sends a private message publicly), and you'll find evidence of athletes carrying on relationships with followers — some of which involve cyber sex, and some of which involved actual dates.

It's not all that different than going to a club, dancing with a woman you never met before, and going home with her.

Twitter is a meat market for celebrities.

Not just athletes but politicians, actors, comedians, and writers.