Swiping matching chatting self presentation and self disclosure on mobile dating apps ward human it


Online dating chatting


Janelle Ward is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Commu-nication and Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research and consultancy expertise is in digital communication. She currently researches how people create and manage impressions on digital media, examining mobile dating apps like Tinder.


Online dating chatting


HUMAN IT is a multi-disciplinary and scholarly journal with the goal of bringing forth new research and discussion about digital media as communicative, aesthetic, and ludic instruments.


We welcome contributions from the humanities, the social, behavioural, and natural sciences, as well as technology. Accepted languages are the Nordic languages and English.

About The Author

Erasmus University Rotterdam 
Netherlands


Janelle Ward is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Commu-nication and Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research and consultancy expertise is in digital communication. She currently researches how people create and manage impressions on digital media, examining mobile dating apps like Tinder.


    
  
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Swiping, Matching, Chatting: Self-Presentation and Self-Disclosure on Mobile Dating Apps

Janelle Ward

Abstract


People have long used rituals of self-presentation and self-disclosure when looking for a romantic connection, whether they seek a passionate love affair, a spouse or a casual encounter. Mobile dating applications like Tinder have exploded in popularity in recent years. On Tinder, impression management begins with choosing one’s profile photos and viewing and assessing the profiles of potential Tinder matches. Self-disclosing to matches begins in a technologically mediated environment. This article provides an overview of literature that has focused on self-presentation and self-disclosure on dating websites and raises questions about whether and how this literature can be applied to new digital matching mobile apps like Tinder. It highlights two current research projects on Tinder users recently conducted in the Netherlands.