Tinder: For Finding Love or Sex?

Abstract

Current young adults are using technology to find romantic relationships (Sumter, Vandenbosch, & Ligtenberg, 2017). Rather than meeting face-to-face, young adults are engaging in “digital courtship” to find potential romantic partners (Degim, Johnson, & Fu, 2015). Young adults are using dating apps and engaging in computer-mediated communication (CMC), which allows for individuals to meet online before meeting in person (Finkel, Eastwick, Karney, Reis, & Sprecher, 2012). Dating through CMC fundamentally differs from traditional dating, according to Finkel et al. (2012), because it offers three unique features: access, communication, and matching. Access refers to giving users “exposure to and opportunity to evaluate potential romantic partners they are otherwise unlikely to encounter” (p. 6). For instance, you could possibly find someone who has all the qualities that you desire in a different state or country. Communication refers to the “users’ opportunity to use various forms of computer-mediated communication to interact with specific potential partners through the dating site before meeting face-to-face” (p. 9). Hence, individuals can communicate on the app first to see if there is any chemistry before making a commitment to meet in person. In other words, you can regulate the type, tone, and amount of communication with a potential mate without any awkward nonverbal feedback that happens in real-time conversations. Matching refers to a “site’s use of a mathematical algorithm to select potential partners for users” (p. 11). For example, several dating sites rely on algorithms to determine if a couple will be a successful match or not. Computer-mediated communication can impact the ways that people engage in courtship behaviors, because they are no longer confi ned to dating someone physically or socially close to them (Rosenfeld, 2018; Timmermans & Courtois, 2018). For instance, you can date someone in a different state and/or even a different social group.