FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
Cupid and the Laws of the Market
An analysis of the norms and values encoded in the interface
of dating apps Happn, Badoo and Lovoo.
ANGÉLIQUE JUTAND
Master Thesis
Master of Arts (MA) in New Media and Digital Culture Supervisor: Anne Helmond
Second reader: Esther Weltevred June 23, 2020
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TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION ... 4
CHAPTER 1 : A SHORT HISTORY OF DATING, HOW DID WE GET HERE? ... 6
Love, Sex and Marriage: a shift in social values ... 7
The dating market: the rise of capitalism and neoliberalism in the 20th century ... 8
The mediation of dating through technologies ... 11
CHAPTER 2: DATING APPS AND ENCODING OF NORMS ... 14
A Focus on the Visual ... 15
Dating as entertainment ... 16
The importance of accessibility and immediacy ... 18
Cis and Heteronormative values ... 20
CHAPTER 3: UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF ENCODING THROUGH THE LENS OF DESIGN AND AFFORDANCES ... 22
The concept of encoding ... 22
Design and the process of encoding ... 23
The role of affordances in embedding norms and values ... 25
CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY ... 28
Selecting the objects of study ... 28
Conducting the research ... 30
i) Analysing an app’s design: Light et al. and Stanfill’s methodologies ... 30
ii) The environment of use ... 31
iii) Guiding framework for the analysis ... 32
iv) Practical implication of conducting the research ... 34
CHAPTER 5: HAPPN, BADOO AND LOVOO: THE ENVIRONMENT OF USE ... 35
Happn ... 35
Badoo ... 37
Lovoo ... 39
CHAPTER 6: NORMS AND VALUES ENCODED IN THE DESIGN OF HAPPN, BADOO AND LOVOO ... 42
The commodification of the user: the encoding of the Homo economicus ... 42
Dating as a game: searching for a partner as consumable activity. ... 48
Performativity: Dating under the logics of neoliberal capitalism ... 51
From proximity to immediacy: efficiency and relationship creation ... 53
Heteronormativity and norms surrounding gender ... 57
CONCLUSION ... 60
TABLE OF FIGURES ... 63
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I want to take a small portion of this thesis to thank my supervisor Anne Helmond for her help and guidance throughout this process. I also want to thank the department of Humanities and the Head of the New Media master for their flexibility and willingness to accommodate amidst the global pandemic that occurred during the creation and redaction of this thesis. Lastly I want to thank those who have supported me, especially my peers and my family, by discussing, validating, and challenging me throughout this process.
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ABSTRACT
Over the past decade the dating app industry has grown exponentially, generating mass interest from both opinion leading media and new media academics. So far the majority of articles studying this new medium of dating have been restricted to the motivations and consequences of use of these apps. Only a very slight portion of the dating app literature has studied the medium in itself and the norms and values built into it. To address this gap in the dating app literature this study analysed the interfaces of dating apps Happn, Badoo and Lovoo to attempt to identify the norms and values encoded in them. Grounded in design and affordance theory, this study conducted a cross app walkthrough analysis of these interfaces in order to gauge the commonalities between the norms and values embedded in each of these dating apps. From this analysis five overarching themes were identified to discuss the the norms and values encoded in these dating apps: the commodification of the individual, the gamification of the dating process, the depiction of users as productive forces of labour, the importance of performativity in the relationship generated on these apps, and the heteronormativity and cis normativity of these dating apps. Overall it was found that these norms and values were linked through an underlying neoliberal ideology, thus inscribing these apps in the wider socio-political environment they were designed in.
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INTRODUCTION
Dating apps have become an inherent part of today’s contemporary dating scene. Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Fruitz, and so many more have weaved the fabric of modern dating technologies. Even though the stigma around online dating has eroded over the past decade, the assumption that dating apps promote promiscuous attitudes toward sexuality and commitment remains very present in opinion-leading newspapers (Dodgson; Lighthall; Fetters; De Silva; Sales; Temple et al.). Disregarding the conservative thread of these articles, they appear to lack consistent empirical foundations. Small scale qualitative interviews, technologically deterministic assumptions, and moral judgments are the main components of these arguments (Tam; Gerber; Riley). Interestingly, most of the “negative” behaviour pointed out in these articles were rendered to consequences of the use of dating apps. Additionally to overlooking the influence of culture on dating practices, these articles failed to ever mention the medium in itself. Furthermore, these articles never explored the actual norms and values encoded in the interface, which might be responsible, to a certain extent, for mediating users’ behaviour. However, beyond opinion-leading media articles, it appears that the academic literature on dating apps exploring the values and norms in the medium was very scarce.
Therefore, to answer the gap in the literature, this thesis aim will be to identify the norms and values about dating and dating app users encoded in the interfaces of dating apps Happn, Badoo and Lovoo. Once established, this thesis will try to determine what kind of ideology these norms and values reflect. To answer this question, the thesis will conduct a cross-platform app interface analysis, heavily inspired by Ben Light et al.’s walkthrough method and Mel Stanfill’s methodology on interfaces as discourse. It will evaluate the expected environment of use of these platforms as well as conduct a step-by-step analysis of the platform’s functions and design through the lens of the thesis’ research question. This thesis is grounded in design and affordance theory as it uses these theoretical constructs to build an understanding of how norms are encoded within a medium and how they can impact user behaviour. Building on this theoretical framework, it will then attempt to understand which norms and values are encoded in dating apps today. Despite academic research on the subject being sparse, some interesting studies have been conducted, such as Stephen Krüger and Anne Charlotte Splide’s, as well as Caitlin MacLeod and Victoria McArthur’s, from which this thesis will draw from. Overall, the literature on dating apps has mainly focused on Tinder and Bumble and has often only analysed one app at a time, making the results only relevant to these specific apps. To move beyond these
5 dominant apps and to enable further generalization about dating apps, this thesis will willingly discard Tinder and Bumble and will rather conduct a cross-platform analysis of the apps Happn, Badoo and Lovoo.
This thesis is organized as follows. Chapter one will explore, through a historical lens, the responsibility of culture, economics and technology in the crafting of dating practices. It will offer a first insight into the axes to focus on when conducting a walkthrough of dating apps' interfaces. Chapter two will delve into the concept of dating apps and explore the common themes explored by the dating literature regarding their interfaces and affordances such as the emphasis on visual representation, the focus on entertainment, the importance of accessibility and immediacy of users and the embedding of cis and hetero-normative values of sex and gender. Chapter three will dissect the process of encoding by exploring concepts such as design and affordances. This chapter will aim to provide a better understanding of how norms and value can become embedded within the interface of apps before conducting the analysis. Chapter four will define the methodology used to conduct this study. Firstly, it will justify how Happn, Badoo and Lovoo were chosen as the object of this study. Secondly, it will define the theories used to analyse these apps, mainly building upon Light et al. and Stanfill’s work. Chapter five will provide a brief profile of each app and an analysis of their vision as to gain insight into the intentions of the designers and thus inscribed the analysis of their interface in their broader environment of intended use. Finally, Chapter six will discuss the norms and values identified in this analysis through the five following themes: the commodification of the individual, the gamification of the dating process, the depiction of users as productive forces of labour, the importance of performativity in the relationship generated on these apps, and the heteronormativity and cis normativity of these dating apps. This section will also discuss these norms and values in relations to the neoliberal ideology which seems to be governing these design decisions.
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CHAPTER 1 : A SHORT HISTORY OF DATING, HOW DID WE
GET HERE?
The first chapter will operate as the foundation upon which this thesis will be articulated. It aims at providing the necessary knowledge and information regarding dating practices and what shaped them before delving into the subject in more depth. It will explore the history of dating through the lens of three axis, which played a partial role in moulding today’s dating norms and values.
In order to explore the history of dating, it seems fundamental to first outline today’s practice of dating. Dating today can be described, in its more general sense, as “the practice of two people exploring mutually held romantic and erotic interests through one or more casual meetings that typically involve joint participation in some form of leisure or recreational activity.” (Johnson 377). From this definition one can identify three key components of modern dating: It requires two individuals (at least), it requires them to be either sexually or romantically attracted to one another, it requires both individuals to be conducting an activity together. However, dating for millennials (the demographic which uses dating apps the most) seems to have distanced itself from the traditional activity-driven approach to dating (Fetters; Holmquist). Some part of dating culture today seems to have left the realm of organized activity and instead transformed into “casual dating”, “hanging out”, or “hooking up” (Williams; Riordan).
Whereas the structure of dating has shifted into a less formal type of encounter, some claim that in the 21st century dating only mean sexual hook-ups, lack of commitment, and some go to the extent of calling it a “dating apocalypse” (Kim; Singal; Parkinson; Ritter; Horton; Venker; Riordan). Whereas this spectrum of the argument can be deemed as a more alarmist point of view, some affirm that millennials seek out a more serious arrangement, but that they will delay this commitment until some other goals are achieved such as, for example, job stability (Calfas; Fellizar; Singal). Despite the diverging points of view on the subject, there is one point on which both sides seem to overlap; it is the importance of dating apps in modern-day dating. With more than 26.5 million monthly users, dating apps have become widely popular in the last decade (Koch). Whereas dating apps do play a crucial role in shaping today’s dating landscape, they are not the sole responsible for its tranformation. It is crucial, as to not fall into technological determinism, to resituate today’s dating practices and technologies in a broader historical context.
7 A glance at the way our ancestors found romantic partners is enough to affirm that dating practices have evolved. Even the origin of the word dating is still relatively new as it can be traced back to the end of the 19th century (Weigel). It is hard to imagine what this practice was called beforehand, and that is, in part, due to the very different nature of it. Despite being a profoundly interesting subject, an entire account of the history of dating would be far too complex to explore in the restricted scope of this thesis. Instead, this section will approach dating, through a western perspective, in relations to three principal axes that have played an essential role in shaping what dating is today: Social values surrounding love, sex and marriage; economic growth and the rise of capitalism and neoliberalism; and the evolution of mediating and technologies which support dating practices.
Love, Sex and Marriage: a shift in social values
It is important to evaluate the change in social values regarding love, sex and marriage when considering the history of dating as they are inherent parts of its construction over time and therefore have informed the technologies which mediate dating practices today. Thus, monitoring their evolution offers clues and can help shed light on which values become encoded in technology over time. Social values are the “conception of “the good”, [which means they are] ideas about the kind of ends that people should pursue throughout their lives and throughout the many different activities in which they engage.” (Rao). They are influenced and reinforced by institutions, traditions and cultural beliefs. In times, social values can transform into social norms, which play a defining role in the enactment of social dynamics (Bicchieri and Sontuoso). A social consensus is reached through those values and norms, thus ensuring the cohesive fabric of society (Perruci and Perruci). Social values are nonetheless mutable with time, evolving cultures, and especially social movements and actions (Gavrilets and Richerson).
Love, sex and marriage are the foundation of many ever-evolving social values and norms. These concepts have always been intertwined to a certain extent but never as much as they are today (Hull et al.). As a matter of fact, marriage has not always been about love and still is not in some parts of the world. The idea that marriage should contain romantic love was not a priority until the arrival of romanticism, and still then, marriage was still revolving around economics and social order (Coontz). Today norms and values around love and marriage have changed consequently, and it is common, in western countries, to believe that marriage is the
8 result of romantic love. This change in social organization allowed individuals to get married later, multiple times or not at all, which has had a tremendous impact on dating today (Niehuis). This completely shifted the approach and practices of dating as it became an activity in itself rather than a mean to an end (Weigel). Additionally, norms and values surrounding sex also had a tremendous impact on dating practices. The secularization of the church, the invention of the pill, as well as the sexual revolution which occurred in the 1960s allowed for morals to loosen and thus for sexuality, as we know it today, to occur openly without any engagements (Jones; Brewitt-Taylor). This went hand in hand with ideas of love and marriage, and soon enough dating became individualistic. It became a private matter, which family members had no say in, was driven by love rather than rationality, and became more volatile (Langhamer; Bauman). Despite this process taking place over a long period of time it resulted in today's current dating practices. The understanding of how they have changed overtime as well as their current state gives indications of what kind of values and norms about dating could be encoded in dating apps' interfaces.
The dating market: the rise of capitalism and neoliberalism in the 20th century
In the past few years, articles which employed economic terms to describe dating practices have been flourishing (Draime; Bar; Tiffany and Fetters; Assimos; White; Cardona). However, the idea that dating and love can be understood through the lens of the market is not fundamentally new. In 1973, Gary Becker published a paper called "A Theory of Marriage" (Becker). In it, he addressed the encoding of economic norms within the marital market. Whilst marriage became less of an imperative and more of a possibility in a relationship, this market logic extended to the phenomenon of dating. Whilst analysing and comprehending dating solely through an economic lens can be deemed slightly reductionist, it does point the finger towards the fundamental entangling of economics and dating. This subsection will aim to shed light on the crucial role economics have played in shaping the concept and practices of dating, and how the rise of capitalism and neoliberalism, in the last decades, has influenced the norms and values of dating today.
To understand the extent to which economics have constructed today's dating scene, it is necessary to go back to the Industrial Revolutions. Prior to this period the working force was situated mainly in rural areas, but the quick expansion of factories created a massive exodus to
9 the city modifying the traditional organization of households as young and single individuals were now moving to the cities by themselves (Williamson). Factories allowed for unskilled workers to earn a revenue thus allowing woman to integrate the workforce (Sharpe). As a result, cities became more crowded and generated more possibilities to encounter potential partners (Weigel). This shift in gender dynamics and urban population paved the way for the working class to enjoy the possibilities of meeting romantic and sexual interests in public – a first form of dating (Spurlock). However, it was the second world war which democratized dating practices as they are today. The post-World War II economic expansion, often called the golden age of capitalism, played a crucial role in defining the landscape of today's dating scene (Weigel). The GDP of developed countries soared (Herzenberg et al.) which meant that never before had young individuals had such disposable income and leisure time to consume it (Agnew and Rosenzweig). With the war and the shift to the tertiary sector, more women entered the workforce and became financially independent, which meant that marriage became more of a choice rather than an obligation. A change in gender dynamics, values and morals, and a rise in disposable income brought courtship into the public space, and it is at that point that dating became interwoven with consumption and economics.
The expansion of capitalism as well as the rise of the neoliberal ideology in the 20th century has had a significant role is shaping norms and values around dating. Capitalism, as an economic structure, emphasizes commodification with the aim of generating surplus value and increasing benefit. However, capitalism is also "characterized by an entire cultural mindset," (Illouz, Consuming the Romantic Utopia 2) in that "exchange relationships, that of buying and selling, have permeated most of the society." (Bell 14). The process through which this is achieved is a commodification of not only goods but also "the transformation of relationships former unrelated to commerce into commercial relationships of exchange buying and selling" (Lewer 1). According to Illouz, this emphasis of commodification in concomitance with ideas of love has led to the rise of two concepts: commodification of love and the romanticization of
commodities. The former being "the ways in which romantic practices increasingly interlocked
with and became defined as the consumption of leisure goods and leisure technologies offered by the nascent mass market" (Illouz, Consuming the Romantic Utopia 26) and the latter being "the way in which commodities acquired a romantic aura in early twentieth-century movies and advertising imagery." (Illouz, Consuming the Romantic Utopia 26). The feeling of love and the emotions related to it were thus interwoven with the ideology of consumerism (Illouz, Emotions
10 As explained by John Birger in his book Date-o-nomics, logics of capitalism appears to have been internalized within the process of dating itself, drawing similarities between dating practices and market logics. Before Birger, one of the first to underline the relationship between the market and the practice of dating was Bauman. According to him, dating appeared to abide by the same rules than the ones of the free market such as norms of competition, and logics of supply and demand. For him, the individuals on the dating market appeared as commodities with a relational value, which they cater to, through self-presentation. Additionally, the frailty of these new types of human connections resembled those of quick consumption that can be found in late stage capitalism. Finally, the medium of online dating, in his opinion, resembled in its architecture to online shopping where once again the person dating becomes a commodity. Whereas Bauman was the first to define these relationship as economic exchange, the metaphors of dating as a market have become more widespread. Studies conducted by Ahuvia revealed that the lexicons of economics and the market had become embedded into the vernacular of those using online dating platforms, making us question how deep the values of the market have become embedded in the norms of modern dating. Whereas most of these researches were conducted in regard to online dating, the same logic seem to apply in the context of dating apps. Moreover, dating apps seem to have created a market of their own. Beyond cementing the view of dating as a market, the data produced through dating apps have become a valuable commodity (Albury et al.). The data mining of apps such as Grindr or Bumble are the example of the ways in which dating has generated its own data market, commodifying the process of dating even more.
Whereas the expansion of capitalism played a consequent role in shaping the norms around dating, the rise of neoliberalism seems to have generated norms and values in regard to the individual which partakes in dating. Neoliberalism is, firstly, a doctrine of political economy, which is heavily influenced by laissez faire economics and free market capitalism. However, neoliberalism in the 21st century has become more of a “principle of civilisation that shapes the socio-cultural makeup of people through socialisation in the broadest sense.” (McGuigan 224). Arguing it even further, this ideology would have “pervasive effects on ways of thought to the point where it has become incorporated into the common-sense way many of us interpret, live in, and understand the world” (Harvey 3). Thus, the logics of neoliberalism appear to have left the realm of the ideology to embed itself within the reality of individuals living under it giving way to a new subject – the Homo economicus (Foucault). According to Jason Read, the Homo economicus is an “anthropology of man as an economic subject at the basis of politics.” (5). Turned into an economics subject, the individual abides by the theory of
11 human capital. The individual is thus recognized as a sum of its parts he must capitalize on such as: a good education, good genetics, and proactive hobbies as he has become “an entrepreneur of the self” (Read 7). This emphasis on the optimization of human characteristics, according to Robert H. Frank, has bled into the ways individuals date under late modernity. Building on Bauman’s arguments, individuals on the dating market are seen as a list of characteristics they must meet to become one’s partner. Much like a commodity on a market, the individual on the dating market is forced, through the emphasis on competition, to promote his best attributes to ensure desirability. Overall the rise of neoliberalism coupled with the expansion of late stage capitalism seem to have gotten embedded within the individual, therefore shaping, to a certain extent, the ways in which this individual will seek to form romantic relationships.
The mediation of dating through technologies
As mentioned hereinabove, dating technologies could be partially responsible for reinforcing market logics in dating norms and values in today's day and age. Without falling into technological determinism, media and communication technologies can mediate the way we interact with our reality. For example, it was with the press, that for the first time seeking out partners could be done, on a bigger scale, through a non-human mediator (Rosenfeld and Thomas). According to Dugay, technology has played a "long-lasting role in dating in the last century" (216). Thus, understanding how technology, especially online dating and dating apps, has mediated dating over time, can provide an understanding of how technologies today can encode norms and values of dating.
One of the technological revolutions which had the biggest influence on helping individuals to finding a potential partner, was the invention of the computer. Way before the introduction of the world wide web in 1991 by the CERN, the data processing power of computers was put to use to define individuals’ compatibility. In 1965, three Harvard students Jeffrey C. Tar, David L. Crump and Vaughan Morrill launched the Operation Match (Chen). The operation was still far from today's dating technology, but through personality questionnaires filled by the participants and computer punch cards, the computers were able to find the individuals with the most compatibility. Whereas computers did offer more visibility to individuals seeking partners, what it revolutionized was the idea of compatibility (Huston and Houts). With the rise of data, one’s fit with a partner, whether romantic or sexual, could be
12 quantified, a norm which rapidly became inherent to dating today. This rapidly gave the hope that a perfect match existed and that new computer technology could be the mediator in finding them (Mitchell). As the internet became accessible to more individuals, chatrooms became a place of choice for meeting other people (Weigel). Whereas before encounters occurred through a friend or in public spaces, such as bars or cafés, the internet brought this search to the comfort of people's homes and thus mediated these encounters differently. This trend rapidly grew, and in 1995 the first dating website Match.com was launched promising to people who had an internet connection that a world of singles out there was waiting for them (Cardona). The craze for online website caught on and in 2000 eHarmony launched the first algorithmic matchmaking dating website quickly followed by others such as OkCupid in 2004. The normalization of such practices created what is now known as internet dating "a method of courting used by individuals who meet on the Internet and continue online correspondence in hopes of forming a sexual or romantic relationship" (Lawson and Leck 189).
Internet dating mediated dating practice as it offered a greater array of potential partners, facilitated communication and provided individuals with anonymity and thus greater control over their identity and its representation (Žakelj et al.). All those factors had consequences on the late-modern transformations of intimacy and sexuality, which was discussed in the first subsection on social values (Giddens). Furthermore, the medium in itself, started supporting and providing a physicality to the realm of dating which lead to consumer-like behaviour such as browsing through potential partners as one would do shopping (Bauman; Illouz, Consuming
the Romantic Utopia; Žakelj et al.). The internet mediated the reality of dating in such ways
that some values and norms at the core of dating practices started to evolve. However, the internet at this point remained a parallel world to reality, and the medium was less embedded in an individual's everyday dating life than it is today with dating apps.
The third technology which has modified dating, is the development of mobile technologies. Mobile technologies brought a whole realm of possibilities to users as its portability facilitated constant use. Unlike the previously mentioned dating website, which remained online compared to IRL (in real life), mobile apps used geolocation to reveal the potential users close to each other. Mobile technologies were first used by queer communities to cruise in public spaces without the risk of being reprimanded for their actions (Dugay). For example, Bluetooth served as a way, especially for gay men, to find potential partners (Mowlabocus). However, and this is the object of this thesis, one particular type of software majorly mediates dating today － dating apps. Dating apps are "software applications designed to generate connections between people who are interested in romance, casual sex, or
13 friendship." (Orchard 2). The first apps to be released on the app stores were Grinder and Scruff who catered to gay, bi and transgender individuals (Shadel). Heterosexual alternatives were later released, the first being Badoo in 2011, not Tinder like it is commonly believed, which launched only later in 2012. As dating apps grew more popular and as their user base widened, they provided more opportunities for individuals to meet each other. Additionally, the emphasis on the physical location of its user created the illusion of higher accessibility (Hobbs et al.). Finally, the embeddedness of the app in everyday life provided a very tangible reality to dating apps, making the process of searching for a partner an interactive activity as of itself instead of means to achieve dating.
Social norms and values of dating are ever-changing, as the exploration of its evolution in the last century has illustrated that. This chapter has aimed to provide an insight into the potential components which have structured and shaped these norms and values over time. The evolution of social norms around love sex and marriage, the rise of the consumerist ideology and the evolution in mediating technologies will be employed to understand and try to identify the norms and values, which are encoded in dating apps today. Before conducting this analysis, the following chapter will delineate the nature of dating apps and review the available research conducted on dating apps' interfaces.
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CHAPTER 2: DATING APPS AND ENCODING OF NORMS
So far, this thesis has explored the process of shaping dating practices through a historical lens. To build upon the previous discussion on technology and dating, the following section will delve into the subject of dating apps with more depth. Firstly, it will define dating apps and the angle at which they are being approached in the context of this thesis. Secondly, it will explore the body of literature which has already discussed the values and norms encoded in dating apps, as to provide a point of departure for the researcher before conducting the walkthrough.
Location-based-real-time dating application (LBRTD), colloquially referred to as dating apps are "mobile services that support the search for romantic and sexual partners" (Albury et al. 2). In more detail, they generally afford "users to generate personal profiles, specify their romantic or sexual preferences, connect with potential partners, and organize dates and hook-ups." (Carlson 1). Since 2009 with the launch of Grindr, the dating app economy has been booming, generating more than 3 billion dollars a year (Lin). Due to this exponential growth, dating apps rapidly multiplied, and today, there are more than thousands of dating apps out there. It is challenging to accurately estimate the number of dating apps, due to the nature of the object being undefined. The term dating app is often used to refer to two different types of apps, traditional dating apps like Tinder and more sex driven dating apps like Pure or Whiple. The main difference between dating apps and hook-up apps is that the dating app will not assume the nature of the relationship and individuals can use them for hook-ups, but also for finding a serious romantic partner. Hook-up apps, on the other hand, are very explicit about the nature of the platform and the intentions of those using them. However users are free to use the app as the wish and some users might treat a traditional dating app as a hook-up app and vice versa. In consequence the line between the two types of apps can easily get blurred. However, for the purpose of clarity, this thesis will deliberately discard "hook-up" apps to focus on apps with more open ended types of encounter.
With more than 26 million users worldwide, dating apps, in the last decade have generated mass media attention – creating in its midst a polarized debate on their consequences on dating practices (Lin). On the one hand, dating apps are seen as ways of generating encounter for individuals who would not access it otherwise (rural areas, people with disabilities) as well as ways to help individuals from different backgrounds to engage in ways they would not have else ways. On the other hand, dating apps are perceived, following the line of arguments of individuals like Bauman, as promoting porous relationship to others and decaying the institution
15 of dating. Without posing judgment on the nature of the argument, both sides are deeply grounded in subjectivity and moral judgments, a trend academics have been trying to counteract through the empirical research undergone regarding dating apps. Whilst most of the academic literature available in regards to dating apps has focused on the effect and the intention of use of the apps, a small part of the academic field has drawn their attention to the medium in itself. A review of the research done on the affordances of dating apps has revealed the following four common themes: the emphasis on visual representation, the encoding of proximity and accessibility, the gamification of dating apps, and the hetero and cis normative assumption embedded in affordances. The following section draws especially from the analysis of dating apps Tinder and Bumble, as they are the two apps, which were predominantly studied by academics of this field.
A Focus on the Visual
The following section will discuss how the literature on dating apps’ interfaces have identified that affordances enforce a certain emphasis on visual representation. The interest for self-representation online has grown with the arrival of social media and naturally expanded to the field of dating apps (Ranzini and Lutz). In this specific case, self-representation refers to the way one crafts their identity online (Ellison et al.). Self-presentation on dating apps is of particular interest, as unlike other mediums such as Facebook, the aim of the users is to forge an identity to communicate with individuals they do not know (Mühleisen). So far, the dating app literature has mainly focussed on the process of self-representation from a sociological and psychological point of view, especially in regards to authenticity (Ranzini and Lutz). However, a small part of the research, which will be discussed below, has been dedicated to evaluating the norms of self-presentation that dating apps’ interfaces afford (Krüger and Spilde; Duguay).
According to Balsamo, "through the practices of designing, cultural beliefs are materially reproduced, identities are established, and social relations are codified" (3). The aim of these papers was therefore to identify which kind of values are encoded in the process of self-representation offered by dating apps. As unveiled by Kruger and Spilde, dating apps appear to heavily rely on visual cues in their profile creation. According to their research, "pictures are the first – and sometimes the only – objects a Tinder user encounters when browsing other users' profiles" (4). In dating apps like Tinder and Bumble, pictures, age and
16 location of an individual are the only features showed to a user when they are in swipe mode. This not only creates highly visual reliant profiles, but it also reveals the normative importance allocated to physique in dating practice on apps. When a user selects a profile, whether it is on Tinder or Bumble, they access more information about the user such as the occupation, the level of education or a short introductory bio (Antonutti and Celardi). It appears that Bumble goes into more details by providing its user with a set of pre-defined categories, which suggest a desire within the app to draw the attention beyond just the visual. Despite this attempt, the information is always situated behind the pictures and is only accessible if the visual representation of a profile has generated sufficient interest for the user to click on it, once more reinforcing the key place of visual representation on these apps. By reducing all profiles’ access points to a name and multiple pictures, the affordance of the apps Tinder and Bumble also reinforce a certain homogeneity across the profiles, which can cause the user to discard a profile quicker (MacLeod and McArthur). This can reduce the person to a simple physical representation of the self as colloquially put by Wygant “picture after picture, and you don't even have to read the descriptions. All it does is trigger all the same feelings guys have when they were young and stole their Dad's first Playboy” (1). Therefore, not only does the affordance’s emphasis on visual representation encode the normative belief that physicality is a key element of self-representation in dating, but it also appears to commodify individuals by generating a certain disembodiment between the user and the profiles (Krüger and Charlotte Spilde). It has also been discussed that the emphasis on visual cues, which can cause the user to perceive others as simple profiles rather than individuals, has increased the playability and entertainment nature of these apps, which will be discussed in the next section.
Dating as entertainment
The dating app literature, mainly focusing on Tinder and Bumble, has underlined the entertaining nature of dating apps as reinforced by their affordances. Entertaining here means that the affordances of these apps stimulate the user by generating game like behaviours within the process of dating. Accordingly, the affordances of dating apps have been thought of as a way to instigate a game like relationship between the user and the app. This is mainly done through gamification a "process of enhancing a service with affordances for gameful experiences in order to support users’ overall value creation." (Huotari and Juho Hamari 1426).
17 This process is crucial to the design of dating apps today, as it is what crystalized them as a sociocultural artefact and increased their popularity (Ranzini and Lutz). A trademark sign of the gamification of dating apps is The Swipe™. The swipe is a patented action coined by Tinder, which is partially responsible for making dating apps so widely used. As a matter of fact, today, even the word swiping has become an integrant part of the vernacular of dating (Krüger and Spilde). Building on the research of David and Cambre, one of the reasons this design decision has become so popular and has been reused by other dating apps is because, it adds a game like feature to an app which maintains the user attention. Indeed dating apps are located within what is called the economy of attention. The economy of attention refers to the "mass media exchange [of] information and entertainment for attention, which is in turn monetised via advertising" (Frank 8). To maintain this attention, dating apps emulate many well-known behaviours such as turning the page of a book or in a way that is "as quick and easy as flicking through the pages of a magazine" (Bhattacharya 31). This process is used to maintain the interest of the user by making the activity of looking for potential matches an entertaining and familiar activity (Bhattacharya).
From the work of David and Cambre, Ranizini and Lutz, Krüger and Spilde, it became apparent that the affordance of the matching system of dating apps reinforce the image of dating as a form ofentertainment. However, the swipe right/swipe left logic coupled with the way dating apps withhold their databases, reinforce what Krüger and Spilde referred to as “containment through entertainment” (10). By only allowing their user to see one profile at a time and showing an endless amount of profiles, as well as by containing their behaviour in such ways, Tinder and Bumble suggest to their user that, first of all, a better match is out there and that second of all, they should spend more time on the platform to find it. Despite achieving a match, the affordances of the app suggest that there are other, more compatible options than the profile, one just crushed with. Krüger and Splide reflect on this never ending process by describing profiles as “an object of desire that is never identical with objects (or people) in the real world, never to be obtained and thus ever elusive. Chasing this object, our fate is to move on continuously and unrestingly from one ‘swipe’ to the next.” (11). The way profiles are represented on Tinder and Bumble, reinforces the argument, that unlike traditional dating websites, dating apps present profiles in a condensed card like manner, distributed by the app like it was a card dealer (Krüger and Spilde). One can scroll through the profile but not zoom out to see all the individuals out there, since it is the point of the game. As put by Kruger and Spilde, "limitation of one profile at a time without knowing how many profiles there are constitutes the game principle; it is what brings users to the application and persuades them to
18 return again and again." (11). Thus, by maintaining their database hidden and by restricting the behaviour of their users to a dual swipe system, the dating apps actually generate entertainment. Therefore, the affordances of dating apps like Tinder and Bumble generate a sense of entertainment through the gamification of the interface but also through affording their user only one specific access to their database. As a result of this emphasis on entertainment, it seems that the affordances encode the norm that dating can be valued as a game or an activity that can be commodified by their creators. Whilst this section explores the implications of representing the process of dating as entertainment, the following section will expand upon the value allocated to proximity and accessibility through the affordances of dating apps.
The importance of accessibility and immediacy
As mentioned hereinabove, the interface analysis conducted on dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble reported that their affordances reflected a strong importance allocated to accessibility and immediacy in online relationship formation. Since the 1940s, with the popularization of the first computers, the ways and means to help individuals find partners have not stopped to increase, giving people greater accessibility to others. The computer and later on the smartphone allowed for the materialization and the visualization of those seeking company (Cochoy et al.). However, what differentiates dating apps from other dating mediums, is their reliance on real time location (Ranzini and Lutz). The location of users becomes paramount for the use of the apps as each profile is linked with a geographical distance. The fact that physical location is placed at the centre of the interaction of individuals on these platforms, reveals that the proximity and accessibility of users is a key factor in online dating. Furthermore, the awareness of other’s physical location gives an “electronic position and relational presence, which is emotional and social” (Tomita 136). By generating a sense of closeness between the user, the interface attenuates the fact that users are strangers on this platform. Other types of affordances are used to make individuals more accessible to one another as it is what makes them so enticing (Sumter et al.). Embedded direct messaging, the use of gifs, stickers, suggested questions and other types of communication features are thought to facilitate and encourage individuals to connect (Krüger and Charlotte Spilde). By reproducing communication tools which are already familiar to the user, dating apps ensure a more natural and accessible interaction between users, increasing not only their physical but emotional proximity. By
19 emphasizing the accessibility of others through location based affordances or communication affordances, dating app attempts to ensure faster relationship formations and give them a sense of immediacy (David and Cambre).
Beyond accessibility, the focus of these interfaces on location features, generate a sense of immediacy. The use of real time location, despite not being obligatory to function, is a common feature to almost all dating apps. This is one of the aspects which differentiates dating apps from online dating is that they are location-aware (Newett et al.; Licoppe et al.). According to Dugay, "mobile intimacy" and the "co-presence" of individuals due to the awareness of their location "intensify the immediacy and ability of users to meet through apps" (Dugay et al. 215). The emphasis on geographical location, in the search for partners, blurs the "boundary between virtual and geographical spaces" (Carlson 2), giving to the user, to a certain extent, a sense of "augmented reality" (Jurgenson 85). The virtual dating world and the physical world exist not parallelly, but are intertwined with one another as the mobility of the medium increases the spontaneity and the frequency of use of the app (James). As a result, the use is not bound to a home and becomes suitable for "trains, buses, bars, restaurants, and other public and semi-public places" (Ranzini and Lutz 7). This shapes the user’s relation to dating as the separation between the virtual and the real seem to erode and the encountering of new individuals is not bound to physical spaces anymore.
That occurrence has been especially studied in the case of the app Grindr, an app constructed around users meeting swiftly (Licoppe et al.; Van De Wiele and Tong; Brubaker et al.). Because matches are made on the basis of location, the user is drawn back to the platform as they make their way through the physical world. This continuous potentiality to match with a new person is emphasized through the app’s push notifications, which always remind the user that new matches can be made. Therefore, location based features coupled with the mobility of the medium mediate the ways individuals perceive the dating space and the practice of dating as relationships become more immediate. Finally, the way potential matches are suggested to the user reveal a certain urgency. The limited information about the user coupled with "the binary accept/reject structure indicates a temporal dimension that pushes for swiftness and determination” (Krüger and Charlotte Spilde 9). As a matter of fact, one of the key features of the Bumble app is that users solely have 24h to contact a match or it disappears. This is only one feature on one app but it seems that immediacy to contact and engage with other users quickly is a foundation of many other dating apps. Accessibility, proximity and immediacy all appear to play a key role in the design choices of dating apps, which we could conjecture aims to create a certain productivity in match making.
20
Cis and Heteronormative values
Lastly, research in the field of dating apps, especially through the lens of feminist technoscience, has revealed that the design of the app can, through its affordances, encode values surrounding gender identity and sexuality. As explored hereinabove, self-presentation in dating apps encodes a set of norms and behaviours by allowing their users to express their identities in specific ways. Despite sexuality and gender remaining under researched in the context of dating apps, a study analysing the interface of Tinder and Bumble revealed a strong heteronormative bias in the affordances of the apps (MacLeod and McArthur). For example when downloading Tinder as a cisgender woman, the app will automatically show the user only male profiles. Another example are Bumble’s attempts to break gender stereotypes. One of the trademark of the Bumble app is that woman are required to send the first message (Bivens and Hoque). This feature was clearly not thought out for homosexual individuals as, in the context of a same sex match, the feature does not exist. It is therefore interesting to see how the app’s affordances reinforce a certain type of sexuality without ever asking the individuals about their sexual orientation.
Another set of values and norms, which appear to be encoded within dating apps interfaces are assumptions about gender. Norms regarding gender are, similarly to sexual orientation, tailored to the cisgender majority. Furthermore, "the self-representations that users are able to produce are reflective of the formal limitations imposed by the presentation format and prior decisions made by others regarding the specific implications and connotations of identity categories" (MacLeod and McArthur 828). Most dating apps only allow two types of identity, putting sex and gender in the same category and reinforcing the female-male gender binary. This is particularly interesting considering that, on Bumble for example, most profiles are created through the use of Facebook. The app when registering through the social network, gains access to information about the user such as his/her age, name and gender. However on Facebook, there are more than two genders, a multiplicity which cannot be found in the dating app (Bivens and Haimson). Keeping the gender option to a binary is therefore a conscious choice which became encoded in the app. The strict binary of gender can cause individuals to be misgendered, which in turn can cause a high level of distress in addition to harassment towards non-binary individuals. This reveals certain norms around gender which are encoded within the construction of the apps as "customization to reflect users' identities is at once
user-21 driven and significantly constrained by pre-established patterns of representation" (Nakamura 9).
This chapter has defined the scope of dating apps and has provided a summary of the key findings of the dating app literature in regard to interfaces and affordances. Dating apps’ interfaces focus on visual representation, on gamified and entraining affordances, on emphasizing accessibility and immediacy of relationship formation, and on the encoding of hetero and cis-normative values enlighten the researcher on the potential norms and values, which are encoded in dating apps Happn, Badoo and Lovoo. Even though there seemed to be an interest for the process of commodification in these papers, they lacked to define the norms and values behind the themes identified. Building on these findings, this research wishes to determine the norms and values encoded in the interface of the dating apps Happn, Badoo and Lovoo and potentially identify an ideology, which links them. Before delving into the methodology used to conduct this study, the following chapter will explore the concepts of encoding, design and affordances to ground this thesis in a wider theoretical framework.
22
CHAPTER 3: UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF
ENCODING THROUGH THE LENS OF DESIGN AND
AFFORDANCES
The previous chapters explored, on the one hand, the components which help to shape the norms and values surrounding dating, and on the other hand, summarized the available literature which addressed the affordances of dating apps’ interfaces. Despite providing a better understanding of the frameworks through which norms and values are encoded in dating apps, it did not explore the process through which norms and values become encoded within technology. This chapter will explore the concepts and theories, which will act as the theoretical framework of this thesis, before undergoing empirical research. It will first define what is meant by encoding. Secondly, it will explore the field of design and its responsibility in mediating and embedding of norms and values in technology. Finally, it will go over affordance theory and how it is useful to evaluate affordances in apps to identify norms and values embedded in them.
The concept of encoding
To understand the norms and values embedded in dating apps today, it is first imperative to understand the process of encoding. The term encoding has various meaning depending on the context in which it is being used. In its most elementary form, encoding refers to the process of converting into a coded form (Cambridge English Dictionary). The term is especially prevalent in the field of computer technology as it was used to define converting data from one form to another to generate encoded data (Manolescu et al.). Across the diverse fields, encoding appears to refer to a piece of information and its categorization into a more digestible form. In the social sciences, encoding is “the process of translating thoughts, ideas, or questions into words” (Lavrakas 1). Whilst all these definitions are valid and are of interest to this study, it is the understanding of encoding within the field of communication, which this thesis builds upon. The encoding/decoding model of communication, developed by Stuart Hall in 1973, sheds light on the way media messages are produced, disseminated, and interpreted. Grounded in semiotics, encoding is the crafting of a message into a specific form for the receiver to understand it. Through a mix of verbal and non-verbal cues, the sender aims to reach the receiver in the most adequate way for it to be understood (Hall).
23 The encoding/decoding approach, although having its roots in communication theory, soon became re-appropriated by the designing community. Encoding became the synonym for embedding a particular behaviour into an interface – for example, by giving a knob to a door, the designer embeds the idea that the door can be opened but by choosing the colour red in a digital interface the designer embeds the norms that this specific action isn’t desirable. Thus, the process of translating the designer’s ideal use of his product into its interface is referred here as encoding (Du and Yu). However, as the designer remains human, his intents of use can be biased and unconscious and can become the result of the cultural environments in which he is situated. As a consequence, the cultural and even socio-political environment of the said designer can become encoded in the interface of an object modifying the user’s experience of it. Through this process, norms and values which were generated, whether consciously or unconsciously by the designer are thus encoded within the platform through choices of design. Despite this thesis solely looking at the user interface, the following section will delve into the design process to enlighten how these norms can become encoded.
Design and the process of encoding
Design is a crucial component of the ways norms and values are encoded within an app. For the designers, “a large part of the work [when crafting an artefact] is that of inscribing this vision of the world in the technical content of the new object” (Akrich 208). Whether it is with a physical artefact or an interface, the designer requires to make a certain number of crucial choices as “the practices of designing make the material world intelligible” (Balsamo). The interfaces, which are made usable through their design, are “governed underneath by a complex system of operations that transform or code social interaction to data and a technological apparatus by means of which this data is stored, aggregated and computed” (Alaimo and Kallinikos 8). The raw nature of the technology, which is hidden under the interface, is only made understandable to the user because of the designing process. Therefore, the designer must keep in mind, throughout the design process, how the user will perceive the interface and what kind of behaviour it will instigate (Balsamo).
However, before delving into the concept of design any further, it is crucial to understand the concept of interface. The aim here is not to give a rendition of all the debates concerning the concept of interface, but rather to explicit what is meant by that term here. The interface is often understood in relations to the concept of surface or is assimilated to the flat
24 screen, however, this thesis wishes to go beyond that and to look at the interface as “a relation between things or conditions” (Bucher and Helmond 17). The interface here is viewed through the lens of how it “produces and makes visible certain relations” (Bucher and Helmond, 17). Thus, “the interface privileges the question of how a relation may come into being and how it may produce behaviours or actions” (Hookway 14). Through the interface, the user can interact with an app and it is at this level that the norms and values encoded in an app become apparent. This is why the interface will become the entry point through which this study will be conducted.
To look at the interface and its construction, the term often used is interface design. For this thesis, however, the term interaction design seems more appropriate. With interface design, it is but too often the case that one falls into the belief that design is the crafting of the visual aspects of a product or technology (Gibbs). However, the design of the interface we wish to address is the one which “captures the many aspects of the system that have to be the subject of coordinated design decisions.” (Murray 11). The process of design goes way beyond the graphic design as it is a process which requires information architecture as well as visual translation which is intuitive to the user (Vaughan and Edquist). Information architecture is “organizing and simplifying information, designing and integrating information spaces/systems, and creating ways for people to find and interact with information content” (Resmini and Rosati 34). It is this practice which gives the structural skeleton of a website or an app. Interaction design, therefore, comprises both the architecture of an app and the graphic design of its interface. It is creating on the one side, a pathway of interaction (UX) and the visual signifiers which will make this architecture visible (UI). Only if both are working together can the user have a product which is usable and accessible (Verbeek).
Why does it matter to look at the output of this design process rather than the process in itself, when trying to identify norms and values in an app? According to Balsamo, designing a technical object creates a “complex process of meaning-making whereby both technology and culture are created” (11). The cultural environment of the technology thus influences the design process and reinforces it, as “culture is both a resource for, and an outcome of, the designing process” (Akrich 211). Design is thus a translator of values and norms in the world, because “through the practices of designing, cultural beliefs are materially reproduced, identities are established, and social relations are codified” (Balsamo 12). However, the design process is an active one and the encoding of these norms and values, beyond translating culture, also embodies the bias of its designer (Kersten et al.).
25 As a matter of fact, multiple design strategies have been defined over the year in the aim of generating certain behaviours in their users. Some go to the extent of being called architecture of control. The architecture of control are “features, structures or methods of operation designed into physical products, software […] any planned system with which a user interacts—which are intended to enforce, reinforce, or restrict certain modes of user behaviour.” (Lockton). These apply, to a certain extent, a regulatory governance in the aims of “embedding standards into design at the standard-setting stage in order to foster social outcomes deemed desirable” (Yeung 120). One strategy is called nudging, it is “any aspect of choice architecture that alters people’s behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives” (Thaler and Sunstein 6). Therefore, norms and values can become encoded through these architectures of control and become visible through the actions they aim to enforce. Thus, it is through the process of design that the norms and values become encoded into the interface, but it is through the analysis of affordances within the interface that these norms and values become visible.
The role of affordances in embedding norms and values
Affordances are a crucial part of how the norms and values found in an app’s environment can be translated onto the interface of an app. The term affordance can be traced back to ecological psychologist James Gibson with his seminal piece of work The Ecological Approach to Visual
Perception published in 1979. Originally, the term affordance was used to define all the actions
the physical environment could provide to those interacting with it (Gibson). Affordances, despite being ascribed to animals in Gibson’s definition, are intrinsically relational. In other words, affordances are not representative of the environment, but “formed by the relationship between an agent and its environment” (Nye and Silverman 187). It is not implied here that affordances change based on the nature of the agent, but that they are perceived differently depending on the agent. Whilst Gibson is still used as a reference in affordance theory today, it was not until the work of Norman that affordances took hold of the world of design. In his book
The Psychology of Everyday Things, Norman defined affordances as follows:
“…the term affordance refers to the perceived and actual properties of the thing, primarily those fundamental properties that determine just how the thing could
26 possibly be used. […] Affordances provide strong clues to the operations of things. Plates are for pushing. Knobs are for turning. Slots are for inserting things into. Balls are for throwing or bouncing. When affordances are taken advantage of, the user knows what to do just by looking: no picture, label, or instruction needed.” (Norman 9)
With his theory, Norman implied that designers could improve the usability of their device and that artefacts had both real and perceived affordances. Real affordances are the qualities of the object, for example a door by nature can be opened, perceived affordances on the other hand allow the user to know how to use the product, for example a lack of handle on a door suggests that it needs to be pushed. Furthermore, Norman underlined that affordances “are the result of the mental interpretation of things, based on our past knowledge and experience, applied to our perception of the things about us” (14). It means that the perception of affordances are relative to the design of the object but also the wider context in which it exists. Norman’s take on affordances rapidly grew popular in the design community and the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), generating new understandings of the term (Burlamaqui and Dong). For example, for designers, especially when working with platforms and apps, it became “complicated to define the conceptual boundaries between the perceptual information and the physical attributes of the thing to be acted upon, as they seem to be quite intertwined and overlaps between them may exist” (Burlamaqui and Dong 301).
To remedy this issue and to build on Norman’s theory of perceived affordances, Burlamaqui and Dong provided an alternative meaning to affordances as “cues that invite an agent to act upon the artefact” (305). Their definition of affordances is interesting for the design community as they refer to the “signifiers” which indicate to the user what they can do rather than represent “the use itself”. This thesis will thus, when conducting its research, approach affordances as the signifiers, which indicate to dating app users the actions they can undergo.
So how do affordances practically encode norms and values? Stanfill suggests that affordances are the “assumptions built into interfaces as the normative or ‘correct’ or path of least resistance” (106). Thus, the choice of affordances made by the designer suggests a specific world view, as it allows only a particular use of the platform. There is a certain range of actions, that affordances can afford which aim at regulating the user’s behaviour. According to Light et al., building upon science and technology studies and cultural studies, looking at the affordances of an interface in its detail can “reflect the discursive and ideological positions of their producers and align with their agendas” (5) as well as help to “identifying cultural
27 discourses that shape and are perpetuated by interface elements” (8). Therefore, looking at the cultural environment of an app as well as the use suggested by the designer through affordances can help identify the norms and values, which are encoded within an interface – and in the case of this thesis, dating apps.
This chapter has built a better understanding of the key concepts of this thesis' by exploring the encoding process through design and affordance theory. In order to better situate this study, the following section will outline a methodology for examining how norms and values become encoded into apps through the lens of interface analysis by building on previous approaches. From the theoretical framework explored hereinabove, this thesis has explored the main components, which have structured today's dating scene. Firstly, it explored the co-constitutive relationship between dating practices and social values, economics and technological mediation. These have translated into the dating scene of today, which, despite not being solely structured by its dominant technology, has found new cultural hegemony through it.
Building from these findings, this thesis assessed the work undergone by academics in regards to dating apps’ interfaces and affordances. It expanded upon the ways through which dating apps’ affordances have been understood to reinforce the importance of visual representation, entertainment, accessibility and immediacy, and cis and heteronormative norms and values. Thirdly, this thesis explored the concept of encoding and how, through design and affordances, it embeds norms and values within apps’ interfaces. All of the previous chapters have constituted the foundation upon which the following methodology will build in order to answer the problematic of this thesis and identify the norms and values encoded into the interfaces of dating apps Happn, Badoo and Lovoo.
28
CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY
This chapter will discuss the methodological framework used to identify the norms and values encoded in the interfaces of dating apps Happn, Badoo and Lovoo. This research consists of a cross app analysis of three distinctive dating apps enlighten by the pre-existing methodologies of Light et al.’s walkthrough method and Stanfill’s interface analysis. The following chapter is divided into two sections: the first identifying, whilst using the App Store as tool of research, the dating apps which will be the object of this study, the second reviewing the different steps and frameworks, drawn from the methodology cited hereabove, which were used to conduct this analysis.
Selecting the objects of study
As it has been mentioned previously, the dating app industry is oversaturated as there are more than thousands of app available on app stores worldwide. Despite this abundance of options a few have stood out and generated more interest than others such as Tinder and Bumble. This study wishes to go beyond these two apps, who have been at the core of the dating app body of literature, to widen the scope of this subfield. Additionally to being an exponential market, the nature of dating apps is also elusive. Their definition remains vague often referring to hook up apps as well. In order to narrow down the search, this study will discard apps which solely promote sexual encounters such as Pure or Whiple and focus of dating apps which promote open ended encounters. The following section offers a way to identify the interesting dating apps to study by using the App Store as a tool of research.
Today app stores endorsed the role of “gatekeepers” or “obligatory passage points” for downloading apps (Dieter et al.). Therefore, there are important and indispensable tools for conducting research on apps. However using app stores as a tool for seeking apps has its limitation. Firstly, each app store possesses its own unique logic through its infrastructure and algorithms (Dieter et al.). These have an impact on the type of result that can be obtained through a store and therefore the type of apps which are downloaded by users. Search results on app stores depend of three variables: The app store within which the query is executed, the location of the store, and the type of query (Dieter et al.). To address these issues the first step
29 of this research was to explore the landscape of app stores. There are multiple types of app stores with two major industry leaders: Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store (Statista). This research will only be conducted through the App Store as the iPhone was the only tool available to the researcher. The second issue was the one of location of the Apple’s App Stores. To remedy this issue the researcher decided to focus on the European market and chose the 10 most populated countries in Europe: Germany, Turkey, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, Ukraine, Netherland and Belgium. To access the local app store the researcher had to modify the region settings of her Apple ID account to the corresponding country. This ensured that the result from the query were similar as if the researcher was in the given country. Finally the last issue was the type of query which would be conducted. Based on Dieter et al.’s app store taxonomy of queries, the researcher chose to conduct a “topic based query” and thus queried the term [dating app] in each local App Stores. For each query the researcher collected the first 5 results suggested by the App Store generating the following table.
Table 1. Ranking of the first five dating apps per local App Store obtained with the query [dating apps]
Country Result 1 Result 2 Result 3 Result 4 Result 5
Germany Yoome Badoo Lovoo Tinder Bumble
Turkey Happn Tinder Ok Cupid Mamba The inner
circle
France Fruitz Happn Tinder Badoo Lovoo
United Kingdom
Plenty of
fish Hinge Match.com Tinder Badoo
Italy Happn Badoo Bumble Tinder Lovoo
Spain Badoo Tinder Plenty of
fish Happn Meetic
Poland Happn Ok Cupid eDarling Tinder ColorDating
Ukraine Mamba Happn Lovoo Eden HER
Netherlands Happn Bumble Tinder Badoo The Inner
Circle
