WSSF6 Podcast

Dating apps have positively changed people's lives by transforming the ways in which they experience romantic relationships. Digital intimacy has become a distinct subtype of intimacy with its own characteristics. Dating apps, such as Tinder and Grindr, have gained popularity and are the number one way to meet romantic partners. While there are concerns about the use of dating apps for hookups and potential misleading of users, the majority of critiques are biased and emotive. People have different preferences and small talk through dating apps can be sufficient for some. It is important for individuals to take responsibility for their actions on dating apps. Government oversight is needed to address issues such as algorithms and personal information. Overall, dating apps are the future of romantic connections but require careful regulation and usage. Hello and welcome to this episode of Digital Geography. I'm Yifei Xue from UCL. Today I'm going to talk about why dating apps positively change people's day light. I will be using my own experience in using dating apps as some of the evidence for a later discussion. In the contemporary world, new forms of digital technologies are constantly changing and reshaping people's relationships and more. Our bodies align in this in both online and physical environments as well as beyond. Technologies have changed our ways of meeting new people, communicating with each other and more. I agree with previous studies that while the digital has transformed intimacy practices, intimacies have also infected the digital, guiding and infecting its growth and spread at a fundamental level. Based on that, I argue that the transformation is overall positive. First, in communication studies, digital intimacies must be understood considering two premises. The first is that communication media have an impact on communication content but are also meaningful in and of themselves. And the second is that communication media become articulated to the processes with which they interact. This means that digital intimacy has evolved into a distinct subtype of intimacy with distinct characteristics. One important aspect is that the ways and means by which people experience romantic relationships have changed. Dating apps are typical examples of how technology has changed. Dating apps are controversial and keep gaining popularity as a new technology. In 2015, the Pew Research Center found that 57 out of 10 ages 13 to 17 had no problem making new friends online with most of the friendships remaining in the digital space such as social media and online gaming. A study from Arizona State University also shows that online dating is the number one way of meeting a romantic partner in the U.S. The pandemic also exaggerates the trend. Online dating has a long history since social media was created but dating apps are just like the most efficient form and gentrified offline community spaces. Online dating apps such as Tinder, Grindr used by queer communities have been more widely studied compared to heterosexuals. Sam Miles' study in 2016 interviewed 33 non-heterosexual men and his results aligned with other studies I quoted earlier. New findings further to the dimension is that queer men's lives are increasingly promulgated digitally but at the same time find it challenging to embody in everyday practice. It leads to another common problem that most dating apps are used for hookups. Are they hurting people's feelings and misleading users on how they experience the real world? As a dating app user for five years, my answer is mostly no. Dating apps are broader gentrification for everyone. Not only the widely studied minority groups, it just satisfies the public want to meet new people as do all social media. Since more and more people are spending time online, it is only natural for them to fulfill their requirements through the internet. In the majority of instances, the essential issue is that individuals must be responsible for themselves. What photographs do you include in your profiles? Why don't you match and meet in person or not? These questions are led to the description of the users. In my perspective, the majority of critiques are highly emotive and biased. Indeed, most people I matched with don't want to meet me in person. But in most situations, small talk via dating apps is good enough for me. It's just what I need. Also, people have various tastes. A more effective method of meeting new people in an exchange team conversation might facilitate the development of long-term connections. Other issues such as algorithms and personal information require government oversight. Overall, dating apps are the future of how people meet romantically. They are fraught with danger and must be carefully regulated. It's a common issue with most new digital technologies. Dating apps with careful governance and regulation will be a new form of technology that is positive but also highly dependent on how you use it.