Abstract: The dating world has been shifted with the introductions and growth of social networking and dating applications such as Tinder and Bumble. This growth of dating platforms has also had a growing impact on the ways in which relationships are formed and grow. This paper will explore the impacts that Tinder and Bumble continue to have on dating and relationships.
Keywords: Tinder, Bumble, dating, relationships, social networking, online dating
Dating sites and applications have shifted the world of dating in significant ways. Dating applications such as Tinder and Bumble have entered the dating world and have brought a wide variety of positives and negatives when compared to the more traditional dating method. The main positive being the level of accessibility and ease of use (Bryant & Sheldon, 2017). Dating has seen evolution from chat rooms to online dating sites such as eHarmony which allowed individuals add pictures to their profile and create ‘advertisements’ for themselves to now having an application at the top of your fingers (LeFebvre, 2017). Growing numbers of teenagers and young adults are utilising online social networking sites and applications as ways to find relationships and sexual partners (Blunt-Vinti et.al., 2016). On the other side of the spectrum, middle-aged and older individuals utilise these resources as ways to meet more people without the set intentions of relationships or sexual partners (Vandeweerd et.al.,2016). Due to the growing popularity of applications such as Tinder and Bumble, online relationships are strongly impacted. This paper will analyse the positive and negative impacts that online dating applications such as Tinder and Bumble have on relationships.
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram continue to grow and gain popularity as they allow people to communicate and connect, these platforms have also had an impact on interpersonal communication which is a large aspect of an individuals life (Source A, Das & Sahoo, n.d; Source B, Subramanian, 2017). Social networking sites have had a strong impact on the ways in which individuals share and communicate with each other, creating a level of ease particularly to communicate with individuals overseas or a long distance away (Subramanian, 2017). Although social networking has positively affected the way we communicate and created a level of ease in how individuals across the world communicate, it has also negatively affected the way in which we communicate. Through allowing us to easily communicate without having to do so face-to-face, social networking sites have made people more reliant on messaging, commenting on each other’s posts, and any form of communication that does not involve face to face communication (Subramanian, 2017). Therefore with individuals relying heavily on social networking sites as forms of communication, this can have a large defining factor within a relationship.
According to Mesch and Talmud (2006), the quality of social relationships is lower when created through online platforms when compared to those made in a more traditional manner, this being through face to face interactions and over the telephone. The quality is lower due to the level of intimacy that is experienced and shared when face to face with an individual. Intimacy within this context relates to support, bonding, love and self-closeness (Lomanowska & Guitton, 2016). Although the internet and social networks have created platforms that allow individuals to meet new people and communicate with people around the world, when it comes to thoroughly establishing and maintaining relationships within the online world, it is said to be less effective than face-to-face communication (Cummings et.al. 2002). According to Cummings et.al (2002), students also found communicating through emails and online platforms was not as effective in maintaining personal relationships when compared to talking over the phone or face to face. Individuals are able to create different level of ties through social networking site. Ties have a variety of characteristics ranging from how they were formed, the closeness of the relationship and how often individuals are in contact (Donath & Boyd, 2004). Social networking sites allow individuals to create ties that will either grow into strong ties, the type that is present between family, close friends and within relationships, or ties that will remain weaker through lack of continuous contact (Donath & Boyd, 2004). Stronger ties are harder to maintain as they require more effort and time, with a lack of communication and effort ties will not grow to be strong or they can deteriorate to being weaker ties (Donath & Boyd, 2004). Therefore although social networking sites create ease of communication they also create difficulty in creating and maintaining strong relationships.
Online dating is an activity that is often viewed in a negative way universally, with people often having a level of scepticism towards the activity. Particularly Tinder and Bumble, these applications are seen to be the least respectable within the online dating world (YouGov Staff, 2017). Although there is a level of scepticism towards online dating, the attitude towards the activity has been growing positively within the last 8 years (Smith & Duggan, 2013). According to Smith and Duggan (2013), 59% of individuals that utilise the internet agree with online dating being a good and effective way to meet new people. Within the same study, internet users were also asked if they agreed with online dating being a method that allows people to find better matches for themselves, 53% of Internet users agreed with this statement, this being 6% more than the results in 2005 to the same query (Smith & Duggan, 2013). Surveys that have been conducted have found that close to 50 million people within America have tried online dating sites or applications (Matthews, 2018). Within the close to 50 million individuals that have explored the realm of online dating, 84% of those individuals used the online dating sites and applications as a way to find relationships (Matthews, 2018). Through research conducted, it was found that adolescents often find a level of ease with meeting new people and initiating sexual and romantic relationships when online, although with the level of ease they find it more satisfying and less risky when these relationships are initiated offline (Blunt-Venti et.al., 2016). With young adults aged 18 – 24 making up a large group of online dating site and application users, it has also been found that adults aged between 55 and 64 have also began turning to online dating websites and apps, this shows that online dating is not only limited to a certain age group (Tsukayama, 2016). Therefore this shows that the stigma and attitude surrounding online dating is beginning to shift and become more positive, which encourages more people to use online dating platforms and open themselves up to the possibility of online relationships.
This then opens the discussion of how social networking sites tie within this argument: how social network dating sites such as, Tinder and Bumble have positive and negative impacts on online and offline relationships. Tinder and Bumble are both social network dating applications that are utilised for the goal of meeting new people and finding relationships. As previously discussed, a higher level of closeness and intimacy is created through face to face communication rather than online communication (Cummings et.al., 2002). Often Tinder and Bumble users have not met each other in person prior to matching or seeing each other on the applications, therefore having relationships that are then solely developed through online applications can have an impact on the length and intimacy within relationships.
All dating sites and applications, although having a similar overall goal, are created to cater for different groups of people and different needs (Lebowitz & Cheng, 2017). For example, the application Her is one that is created solely for lesbian, bisexual and queer individuals that are looking for dates and/or friends (Lebowitz & Cheng, 2017). Tinder is described to be a dating application that is used by younger daters, with intentions that vary from serious relationship to hookups (Lebowitz & Cheng, 2017). Bumble is described to be an application that is mainly used by females, this is due to the application being known for the feature that allows women to be the ones to make the first move which provides women with reassurance as they do not have to fear the crude opening messages that often come with online dating sites and applications (Lebowitz & Cheng, 2017). Match has more than 42 million users across 25 countries, Tinder has more than 50 million users over 190 countries (Matthews, 2019), and Bumble has more than 46 million users across a smaller amount of countries, these mainly being United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, with a growing country catalogue (Dating Sites Reviews, 2019). This shows that more ‘traditional’ dating sites such as Match are being faced with strong competition from ‘modern’ dating applications such as Tinder and Bumble which have changed the ways in which individuals date and interact romantically.
Tinder is a dating application that is location based that is continuing to take the dating world by storm, particularly young adults with more than half of Tinder users being aged 18 – 24 (Newett et.al., 2017). Tinder is an application that is free to download and requires users to link their Facebook account when creating a profile which adds a level of difficulty towards people creating fake accounts (Newett et.al., 2017). Tinder is often seen as the application individuals utilise for a hookup, but according to a study conducted on the reasons participants , only 5% of participants expressed joining the app with the intentions of hooking up, 8.9% of participants expressed joining the application with the desire of beginning a relationship (LeFebvre, 2017). Other reasons that lead to individuals selecting to use Tinder include, the popularity of the application, the level of ease when using the application, desire for interpersonal relationships, and a level of curiosity (LeFebvre, 2017). The motivations for use vary across a wide range, but they also show how online dating has shifted since the onset of mobile dating applications.
Bumble is an application that is similar to Tinder. It is also an application that is location based and requires users to sign up using their Facebook profiles. Both application utilise a swiping method to match with potential partners, this method is solely based on the pictures and biography on ones profile (LeFebvre, 2017). If an individual likes the look of an individuals profile they will swipe right as a show of interest, or swipe left as a show of disinterest, if both users swipe right on each other this results in a match, once matched then users can begin conversations (LeFebvre, 2017). The biggest difference between Tinder and Bumble is the process after ‘matching’ with a potential suitor. On Tinder, either individuals within the match can message first, for example: either the male or female can message first. This is different on Bumble, when people match, the woman is then put in control of starting a conversation, the woman must send the first message within 24 hours of matching with an individual or the match will then disappear (Kindred, 2018). This puts in a shift in dating as often men are encouraged to make the first move, this application allows women to have the power of starting a conversation which is different to the traditional approach. Bumble also has a feature which verifies users, this gives users a peace of mind that the profile they are viewing is a real person and not a fake, this is a feature that Tinder does not offer (Kindred, 2018).
Bumble is an application that is attempting to put an end to the expectations put on women in online dating. These online dating applications have tainted the ways in which individuals create relationships and remain the strength of their relationships. Bumble is shifting the power to women to reduce the negativity surrounding of the expectations put on women within the online dating world. Whilst Bumble is an application that is thriving to reduce the level of harassment that women endure by giving them the power, Tinder is an application that is known for having high levels of harassment which has a growing negative impact on relationships and how they develop. Online dating applications such as Tinder and Bumble are thought to invoke a higher level of harassment when compares to in person dating, this is due to individuals hiding behind a screen (Fetters, 2018). Although dating applications have allowed individuals to have access to a wider range of people to potentially date, it has also come with the possibility of harassment which continues to have a negative impact on dating. Dating applications having the possibility of harassment can often deter individuals from signing up out of fear, with 42% of women that have used a dating site or application having reported receiving a message that made them uncomfortable and bothered (Pacific Standard Staff, 2014). This high level of harassment contributes to the negative stigma that surrounds online dating which then flows into the development of online relationships as it creates a layer of fear of women.
Instagram accounts such as Bye Felipe and Tinder Nightmares are accounts that explore and expose the constant harassment that individuals, mainly women, face within the realms of online dating sites and applications (Thompson, 2018). Majority of verbal harassment that women face on online dating applications such as tinder are aimed towards their looks, whether that be their weight, physical looks and personalities (Thompson, 2018). Online dating applications such as Tinder have continued to aid and unknowingly increase in the harassment of women both on and off the application (Thompson, 2018). Tinder has and continues to have a negative impact on the nature of relationships, women often have unsaid expectations from men to be willing to partake in hook ups or casual sex (Thompson, 2018). With the growth of sexual harassment towards women, often women feel the need to write their expectations in their bio, for example; not interested in a one night stand or looking for something serious (Thompson, 2018). Although Bumble is a similar application with the same aim of assisting individuals to find relationships, the founder of Bumble, Whitney Wolfe, was a former co-owner of Tinder who personally experienced the harassment that occurs on the application (Garcia, 2017). After experiencing the harassment from the men on Tinder, Wolfe set out to create an application that would put an end to men beginning conversations with crude introductions and comments, hence the application Bumble. As mentioned earlier, Bumble is an application that allows women to make the first move, message first and set the tone of the conversation. This application has given woman the power to direct and lead the conversation without the pressures of sex and hookups from fellow matched (O’Brien, 2016).
In conclusion Tinder and Bumble have changed online dating in both negative and positive ways. Online dating applications such as Tinder and Bumble have made online dating easier for individuals and allowed users to make new relationships and ties. The growth and intimacy of relationships has been heavily impacted by dating apps as often women have unspoken expectations put over them to give into casual sex, and give into verbal abuse, unwanted judgments and comments. Applications like Bumble are attempting to put an end to the unspoken exceptions put upon women and shift online dating and relationships into a more positive light. Online dating is shifting the meaning of traditional dating which bring both positive and negative results towards building relationships of strength within the online and offline world.
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Hi Tafadzwa
Thank you for your interesting paper, I was wondering if during your research there was any further indication of the long-term success of relationships that have started via Tinder and Bumble?
cheers
Steph
Hi Steph,
I was able to find a couple of success stories that resulted in couples living their ‘happily ever after’ but not enough to have solid statistics to include within my paper. Although there were not any strong statistics, there has definitely been some success stories!
Thank you,
Tafadzwa.
Hi Tafadzwa,
I found your article interesting to read. As someone who grew up in an offline world of dating I find the very thought of looking for dates online quite scary! It’s a totally different world! But as you mention the stigma around meeting someone through online dating is changing and more acceptable.
Do you think relationships and communication skills are suffering as a result of these apps? It is so easy and accessible to look for a potential partner, however people are solely judged on their looks and a short bio. Traditional dating takes time and allows for a relationship to develop and grow – for people to get to know one another.
I’ve never looked at Bumble but the notion of the woman having to be the first one to start a conversation is a shift in roles – I like it! Not only is it empowering but it is also a great safety feature.
I definitely think these applications are impacting relationships and communications skills! Bumble has definitely empowered women and changed the dating scene by giving women more confidence to make the first move! It is definitely a feature that makes the app different and well known.
Hi Andrea,
Just a quick thought on your comment, “people are solely judged on their looks and a short bio”. A short bio is more than my parents had to go on when meeting at a dance and simply liked the “cut of their jib”.
This is a very interesting read. The world of online dating is undoubtedly losing it’s stigma largely due to these apps. However as you’ve discussed they do seem to bring with them some quite damaging behaviour. The way some users interact on these apps would be quite damaging to those looking for a real connection. It would also seem that these apps haven’t impacted the love lives of the younger generations all that much with numerous studies finding millennials are having less sex and creating less meaningful real world connections than ever before.
There is definitely some aspects and communication aspects that are damaging and makes it very difficult to create meaningful relationships. But the impacts of this damaging behaviour is slightly alarming!
unfortunately the same behaviour is overflowing into other less appropriate social networks as well, with inappropriate photographs and sexual advances a constant problem for many female instagram users. Instagram account @theempoweredwomanproject is one of many that has been calling out this behaviour. I guess my question is, is this behaviour a symptom of the hook up culture embodied by tinder, or a more serious change in society’s understanding of relationships?
It is very alarming! I do wonder whether there is somewhat of a necessity for these dating apps. With an increasingly time poor population perhaps these apps will become the main method for matchmaking with the greater population not having as much time for social activities where they would usually meet their potential partner.
There are millions of people around the world using the Internet to find love and we just don’t know who is online and identity may be ‘fake’, which is also damaging but I still believe despite all the power the digital world has, the online dating is still there and is still successful.
Hi Tafadzwa,
Online dating is an interesting concept where single elites seek to find their match and allow an online application to connect singles together. It was interesting to read your argument that users of Tinder and Bumble form a relationship using these apps may have an impact on their relationship – both duration and intimacy because I do believe that these type of free application have a different objective to paid dating application, where users may be more genuine in finding love.
The digital world is an interesting world and we (everyday users) rely on what it can do to improve lives.
Well done, Tafadzwa.
Thank you Amanda, I definitely agree in that the free applications do alter the intentions of people who are using the app as there are no real ‘consequences’ per say. I would imagine this is different with individuals who pay as you mentioned above.
A few of my friends who are on Internet dating struggle to find a decent date, especially on free applications, therefore they tend to pay a few to find a capable relationship.
Hi Tafadzwa,
Thanks for exploring such an interesting topic! I agree the stigma around online dating has reduced significantly and attitudes towards it have shifted more towards the positive in recent years. It seems like whereas in the past, dating online could be perceived as a weakness of sorts, now it could be perceived as more of a necessity in today’s world of an increasingly fast-paced and time-poor society.
I would agree with the research group you mention in your paper that online dating is “a good and effective way to meet new people”, but I also think that this doesn’t mean that online dating is a good and effective way to build and maintain a relationship. Online dating sites and apps can be useful up to a certain point, but I believe once that point has been reached, nothing beats face-to-face interaction for building and maintaining strong and meaningful relationships.
Thanks for sharing!
Online dating sites are quite hit and miss in creating a platform to build and maintain relationships, as I know a few people who have managed it, but again they definitely only work to a certain extent and face-to-face interactions must be had in order to grow and maintain relationships. Dating sites are definitely hit and miss and can sometimes be a large stepping stone into meeting new people and creating new relationships!
Thanks for your comment Lana!
Hi Tafadzwa,
Thanks for your article. It was very interesting. I wonder, what made you write about just those two applications? They are very different in terms of how they are used. I actually have not heard of Bumble, but I had been on Tinder and other websites etc. in the past. (Now married to someone who I met through TInder actually) . Do you think that these Apps are being used differently depending on the country?
My opinion with dating apps and websites, in general, is that nowadays, it is very mainstream. At the end of the day, the only thing that has changed is the way we connect. Whether we connect with people face to face at the bar, or online on an app, all these connections are real if we want them to be real.
Do you think overall, that these apps are negative or positive on society? You have written both sides of the spectrum but I would be interested in knowing what your thoughts are? I would also be interested in whether your opinions had changed based on the findings of your research?
Cheers,
Luki
Hi Luki,
I chose to focus on those 2 as they are the ones I hear the most about among people around me and the internet. I don’t think they are being used drastically differently depending on countries as often I hear and read stories from people online of Tinder being known as the ‘hookup’ app and Bumble being seen as the ‘serious’ dating app. Therefore I think the stigma surrounding both of the applications and what they’re used for is quite similar across the world with different people having opposing opinions.
My opinion has definitely changed since conducting the research. In the beginning I thought dating apps had more of a negative impact through all the harassment stories and news articles I had seen, but since writing this paper I’ve definitely become more neutral. Although there is still some negative impact there is also more positive impacts that I have discovered, such as being able to meet new people, and even truly find someone you love through these applications. So through exploring both sides of the spectrum, I am now neutral and see both sides of the spectrum as part of my opinion.
Thanks for the comment!
Tafadzwa.
Dating online is now a very mainstream journey. The mobile phone has enabled us to flirt on the go with anyone online any time of day now. Many of the apps now have built-in safety measures also for people. At the end of the day, there will always be horror dating stories, whether technology is involved or not.
Hi Tafadzwa!
I really enjoyed your paper and learned so much! I have never used an online dating tool despite meeting my partner on Facebook – so technically online, but prior to that I was married since the dawn of the Internet so never had the opportunity. I have had friends use Tinder and Grindr with some success and also some slightly disturbing moments, but Bumble sounds amazing. As a woman who has had her fair share of online harassment while not even in a dating space (!) I think it is a visionary move by Whitney Wolfe to put women in control. I wonder if it has also increased the quality of participants ie less trolls. It’s also interesting that Wolfe brought a sexual harassment claim against Tinder. It sounds like it the issues aren’t platform only related or by users in how women are treated.
Another Bumble function that I picked up in the CNN article is that the app can be used by women to find friends. Maybe it will make an appearance on my phone in that case!
Thanks for a really informative read!
Cheers
MJ
Hi MJ,
Thanks! Im glad I was able to give some insight into the topic for you! Both Bumble and Tinder has begun introducing the feature of verification which allows users to verify their identity and reduce the chances of trolls and catfishes.
Bumble is a great application, it has a friends, dating and business section which allows people to utilise the app not only for dating but also for making friends as you said and also to network with fellow business individuals!
Thanks,
Tafadzwa.
Thanks for an interesting paper on a topic I had little knowledge about beforehand! I hadn’t heard of Bumble at all, and I didn’t realise that tinder accounts were linked to your facebook profile. Do you think this deters some people from joining, out of fear that their participation on tinder might somehow be publicised on their facebook profile?
I don’t think it deters people as Facebook has privacy settings that ensure Facebook will not be posting your activity to your profile. I think the biggest deterent is actually people finding out otherwise that people are using the app. Whether this be through coming across someones profile on the app or hearing through the grapevine, since Tinder has such a negative image. This is changing a lot though which is good as dating apps are becoming a norm! Thanks for your comment Tracey!
Thanks for clarifying. This actually reminds me of a story I read on the ABC a while back, where the journalist looked at Tinder use in smaller communities and realised that often times the matches that come up end up being your relatives.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-19/tinder-in-tasmania-how-do-people-use-it-in-a-small-city/8131502
Thank you for sharing that article! Such an interesting read and I never really thought of the usage in smaller cities.
Hi Tafadzwa,
This was a very interesting read. I was interested to read,
“Therefore although social networking sites create ease of communication they also create difficulty in creating and maintaining strong relationships”.
It is interesting how this concept when looking at a community gives great strength (as discussed in my paper) but when looking at individual relationships (as discussed in your paper) has a negative impact.
Is the creeping approval and popularity of online dating applications simply a generational shift in what is deemed an acceptable manner to meet a potential partner? The way people met in the 50s was different to the 70s or 80s and this is a normal change in society moving with the technology of the time. People who met in 50s would not have spent hours talking on the phone as people in the 80s perhaps. Our Apps are here now and people are adopting their use.
“Online dating applications such as Tinder and Bumble are thought to invoke a higher level of harassment when compares to in person dating, this is due to individuals hiding behind a screen (Fetters, 2018)”.
I am sceptical about this data and would pose that it accurately reflects real life and that 42% of women have received attention that made them “uncomfortable and bothered” in real life. Leading me to the question, is there an unrealistic expectation for humans to behave differently online to their real lives?
Hi Meryl,
I definitely think the growing approval and popularity of dating applications is due to the generation and how much within this day and age majority of lives seem to revolve around online profiles, our phones and social media. These applications just add ease and seem like a natural step within our everyday lives.
I also think there is a level of expectation for people to have a different ‘persona’ online than in person. The biggest example is through platforms such as Instagram, more people are feeling pressure to portray themselves and their lives a different way in order to ‘fit in’ with expectations. This, I think, is even more prominent on online dating apps as often people are judged by just a few photos a short about me section, therefore there’s more pressure to make yourself appear a particular way in order to gain attraction and make matches.
Hello Tafadzwa
I am one of the many middle-aged and older individuals utilising the dating forums of Elite Singles and eHarmony and your paper and your paper backs up the experience I personally have had on both sites. I haven’t heard or come across Tinder and Bumble, relationship can and do actually last for many people. I have a male cousin who found his girlfriend through Elite Singles 18 months ago, they have only just become a couple after starting with online chat, then into the old style dating tradition of spending Sundays together and now finally decided to be a couple both are over 60-years-of age. Another success story is my landscaper who found his wife on a dating app and they have been married for a number of years and have a beautiful 3 year-old-daughter. Cummings et,al, 2002, is correct when he believes that online relationships can be hard to maintain and are less effective than face-to-face. My own personal experience is that the matches being offered to me 70 and over the majority of them all thought they would like children, can you imagine at 91 they would have a 20 year-old-child, definitely not for me and I have now deleted my two accounts and let nature take its course. Lebowitz & Cheng 2017, example of “Her” created for the LBQ individual confirms developers are rising to the challenge of providing applications for everyone without the constraints of gender issues. I’ve found your paper interesting and have learnt about Bumble and will explore this application myself, it is a great concept that women are the ones to make the first contact.
Hello Robin,
It is quite intriguing and interesting to hear about your experiences and the experiences of people around you with dating applications. It’s also great to hear of some success stories and they are often hard to come across! I definitely think Bumble is an application worthy of testing! I’m glad my paper has brought you some new interesting information.
Hi Tafadzwa,
While I found your paper quite interesting, especially as someone who has never used these sorts of dating apps, I disagree with your implication that a reduction in face-to-face communication is necessarily a negative aspect of social networks. You say that social media has made people more reliant on messaging and chat as a form of communication and this has reduced the amount of face-to-face interaction that people are having. You seem to imply that this in inherently a negative however Clark, Algoe, and Green (2018) extensively examined the research into social networks and found that despite historical scholars deeming online relationships a threat to wellbeing, “Whether behavior on social network sites is good or bad for well-being depends on whether the behavior advances or thwarts innate human desires for acceptance and belonging” (Clark et al 2018).
Going into this deeper, the research they found that the negative consequences relating to social media mostly occur as a result of using behaviors on social networks that ‘do not fulfill needs for acceptance and belonging’ (Clark et al 2018). This is not a phenomena unique to social networks however, and is not a new occurrence that has coincided with Web 2.0 technologies. It is actually just a new variation of the traditional pitfalls of socialising and interacting with others (Clark et al 2018).
In contrast, uses of social media which promote connection such as self disclosure, actually benefits a users needs for acceptance and belonging. They found that self disclosures online had the same benefits as face-to-face disclosures, increasing intimacy, strengthening connection and increasing wellbeing (Clark et al 2018).
They also found the same online behaviours could have either detrimental or positive effects on wellbeing, depending on the context (Clark et al 2018).
It is overly simplistic to say that a reduction in face-to-face interactions is having a negative impact on the wellbeing of users. Just because something is different does not necessarily make it bad. The outcry against social media and it’s perceived negative effects reflect similar outcries against books in the 15th century (Masnick 2011).
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Clark, Jenna L., Sara B. Algoe, and Melanie C. Green. 2018. “Social Network Sites and Well-Being: The Role of Social Connection.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 27 (1): 32–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417730833.
Masnick, Mike. 2011. “A Fifteenth Century Technopanic About The Horrors Of The Printing Press.” Techdirt. 2011. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110119/05022912725/fifteenth-century-technopanic-about-horrors-printing-press.shtml.
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“I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
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Adams, Douglas. 2002. The Salmon Of Doubt. UK: William Heinemann Ltd.
Hi Emily,
It is definitely fair and understandable for you to disagree with that statement, and I also agree with you to an extent. As mentioned by Subramanian (2017) social networking sites have created a level of dependency on the ways in which people communicate, which isn’t always completely negative but can hold aspect of negativity. I do agree with you in saying that the behaviours that occur on social networks definitely play a role. I also agree that this is something that is a new variation which has come since the introduction of social networks and Web 2.0.
I appreciate you expressing your disagreement as it allowed me to rethink and view the topic from a different perspective.
Hi Fadzie,
I really enjoyed reading your paper. This was an area a looked into in a previous unit and I found the subject very interesting. One of the papers I read at the time offered this comment in their conclusion:
“Despite concerns about strategic and inauthentic behaviour, the majority of this study’s participants believed that the technology merely enhanced their desires and abilities to find a date or suitable life partner. ” (Hobbs, Owen, & Gerber, 2016).
The data collected for this paper lead Hobbs et al. to form the opinion that “traditional views on dating, relationships and monogamy are still largely prevelant” and “at best, dating and hook-up apps could be said to augment courtship and sexual practices”.
66% of respondents to the study survey confirmed that the apps lent a “feeling of control”, while 87% felt they were afforded “more opportunities to find prospective partners”.
Combined with other finding in the report, the authors determined that dating apps enhanced the search for long-term partnerships. They concluded:
[It] brings new freedoms, opportunities and pleasures, as well as old and new anxieties about risk, self-image and love.
Hobbs, M., Owen, S., & Gerber, L. (2016) Liquid love? Dating apps, sex, relationships and the digital transformation of intimacy. Journal of Sociology. 53(2), 271-284.
https://doi-org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1177/1440783316662718
Hi Vivian,
I agree! These applications definitely allow individuals to explore and discover different things about themselves that they might not have been able to otherwise. Thank you for this comment and insight, I hadn’t fully thought and explore this.
Hi Tafadzwa,
I enjoyed reading your paper. When I was a lot younger I relied on the Internet as my main source of meeting people outside of school where I suffered social anxiety and general awkwardness around people I wasn’t entirely comfortable with. I didn’t really know how to have a conversation with someone in high school, particularly of the opposite sex and it seemed the opposite sex (grade 11/12) were only interested in talking if you talked about what they were interested in. This made it difficult to find things to talk about that were of mutual interest. This lead me back to the Internet and only in my early 20’s did I try out a couple of dating sites and found I was bombarded by men who didn’t even have mutual interests as me inboxing me saying “hi” or “hi do you want to chat?”
For a young woman it was very off putting and I don’t ever remember having any kind of meaningful conversation on a dating app, only on chat forums like mIRC that were made for any kind of chatting. Do you feel like dating apps allow people to act differently to what they would when first meeting someone in real life as opposed to within an app? Did any research show that who met on apps stayed together for longer than just dating?
Hi there,
It is quite hard growing up in a world reliant on the internet to be able to have conversations outside of the world of the internet. According to Dobrean
& Păsărelu (2016), there’s a growing theory of individuals relying on social media having a growing impact on their ability to be comfortable in social situations. Individuals having to utilise social media as an escape from having to be in social situations.
I definitely think dating apps allow people to act differently! Through a screen you are able to come across as more confident than you could be in real face-to-face situations. I think having a screen and just messaging someone also releases pressure from people to perform or act a particular way and many people just feel more comfortable through a screen. Sometimes beginning relationships or conversations through a screen can help someone become more comfortable with the person on the other end before meeting them in person. Getting to know someone before meeting in person can always help, especially for some people who may experience social anxiety.
Through my research, I was able to find a few success stories of couples that met through applications such as Tinder and Bumble and have found their happy ever after. Although I was unable to find solid statistics of the success rate, but there have definitely been success stories and I have personally witnessed a couple of success stories!
Reference:
Dobrean, A & Păsărelu, C.R. (2016). Impact of Social Media on Social Anxiety: A Systematic Review. 10.5772/65188.
Hi Tafadzwa, interesting paper I enjoyed reading it and I agree that Tinder and Bumble play a big role in online dating but do you think that their effect has anything to do with the fact that they were launched in a time where the number of Internet users is high? I just think the fact that practically anyone can get their hands on a computer or phone that allows them to create an account and use those apps, has helped in the popularity of Tinder and Bumble and thus increased their effect on people’s relationships and online dating.
Hi Hanan,
Thank you! There is no doubt in my mind that the height of internet users played a large role in the success, popularity and impact of these applications. As loosely mentioned by other commenters, dating was completely different years ago and applications such as Tinder and Bumble were unheard of. Therefore I definitely agree with you in that these applications have had and continue to have such an impact due to the high level of internet users within this day and age.
Hi Tafadzwa,
Great paper and really interesting to think that initial dating can take place in cyberspace before it ends up in real life.
What I find interesting about online dating is that the initial getting to know you part often takes place all online without ever meeting and while this can take away the, expensive dinner and horrible date which you need a fake emergency call to get out of, it does mean you can screen potential relationships before having to have that embarrassing first coffee date. I wonder if this makes it a safer option especially for women?
However for women in these online spaces I think you found much the same as I did with women in online gaming. that they are subjected to a lot of negative communications as well that men feel justified in doing. Yumi Stynes confronted a man who had made sexual comments to her in an online dating app. What was interesting about this was that the man involved was asking her to keep quiet as he was embarrassed when she repeated his comments in a public place, yet he felt quite at home doing so in and online dating app.
https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/relationships/article/2018/12/03/yumi-stynes-got-live-out-fantasy-many-women-online-dating