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Start Date
24-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
24-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
Dating and hook-up apps have long been associated with unsafety. Grindr has been blamed for the spread of sexually transmitted infections while news headlines warn of murderers on Tinder. Such moral panics are fueled by enduring discourses stigmatizing casual sex, and sexual expression in general, which have found renewal among technology developers in Silicon Valley. Social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, link sex with danger, instilling governance mechanisms in the form of policies and moderation procedures that prohibit, remove, and censor sex alongside violence and hate speech. However, in the case of technologies designed to facilitate intimate encounters, responding to perceptions of danger as well as real threats to users (e.g. stalking, extortion) requires less of a blunt approach. This study involves discourse analysis of dating apps’ safety and community guidelines, alongside analysis of design elements (e.g. profile fields necessitating health disclosures; reporting mechanisms), to understand how safety is constructed among these apps. This research is intensified by the role dating apps are playing during the COVID-19 pandemic, as mediators of information about the virus and user vaccine status. This study engages with popular apps catering to primarily heterosexual markets, such as OkCupid and Bumble, and apps with niche user populations, such as Lex, a community-funded app for queer, trans, and non-binary people. As such, comparative analysis will reveal the range of approaches to sexuality and notions of safety, pointing to how dating apps can be reinvented to prevent violence and convey health information without stigmatizing sexual expression.
Digital dating dangers: Examining dating and hook-up apps’ constructions of safety
Dating and hook-up apps have long been associated with unsafety. Grindr has been blamed for the spread of sexually transmitted infections while news headlines warn of murderers on Tinder. Such moral panics are fueled by enduring discourses stigmatizing casual sex, and sexual expression in general, which have found renewal among technology developers in Silicon Valley. Social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, link sex with danger, instilling governance mechanisms in the form of policies and moderation procedures that prohibit, remove, and censor sex alongside violence and hate speech. However, in the case of technologies designed to facilitate intimate encounters, responding to perceptions of danger as well as real threats to users (e.g. stalking, extortion) requires less of a blunt approach. This study involves discourse analysis of dating apps’ safety and community guidelines, alongside analysis of design elements (e.g. profile fields necessitating health disclosures; reporting mechanisms), to understand how safety is constructed among these apps. This research is intensified by the role dating apps are playing during the COVID-19 pandemic, as mediators of information about the virus and user vaccine status. This study engages with popular apps catering to primarily heterosexual markets, such as OkCupid and Bumble, and apps with niche user populations, such as Lex, a community-funded app for queer, trans, and non-binary people. As such, comparative analysis will reveal the range of approaches to sexuality and notions of safety, pointing to how dating apps can be reinvented to prevent violence and convey health information without stigmatizing sexual expression.
Bio
Dr. Stefanie Duguay is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Canada. She is Concordia University Research Chair and Director of the Digital Intimacy, Gender and Sexuality (DIGS) Lab where her research focuses on the intersection of digital media with representations and practices pertaining to relationships, gender, and sexuality. This has involved studies of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people’s social media participation and self-representation as well as dating apps, platform appropriation and governance, discourses of automation and algorithmic neutrality, and the role of platforms and mobile media in queer social landscapes.
Ben is a PhD student in Communication Studies at Concordia University. His research is focused on the ways in which digital technologies are impacting queerness. Specifically, he is interested in queer gesture, ephemerality, and how digital technologies may impact these phenomena. Ben’s work as an interdisciplinary researcher and multimedia producer lead him to create Queer Media Magazine which sparked his curiosity in queer social networks online.