UTS Digital & Social Media (School of Communication) is pleased to host visiting scholar Dr Stefanie Duguay (Concordia University, Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Canada). Please join us for her research presentation. All welcome, but registration is essential.

Why Tinder matters: Exploring how the app has shaped sexual and dating culture

The mobile app Tinder has been the source of moral panic, construed as a catalyst for sexual promiscuity and the destruction of romantic relationships, and dismissed as a frivolous “hook-up app.” However, in this talk, I assert that Tinder matters for how it has interacted with, shaped, and reinforced aspects of sexual and dating cultures for more than a decade. I will discuss how Tinder’s framing, business model, governance structure, and design have: iteratively changed how we think about dating apps and what they are for; scaffolded how we understand and assess authenticity in evaluating each other’s sexual and dating potential; and impacted how we experience and mitigate risks and harms encountered when meeting new people. This close exploration of one app enables a deep dive into how existing norms, biases, and forms of discrimination that generate inequities and violence within the dating landscape are (re)created and reinforced through sociotechnical arrangements. Only by getting specific about these arrangements is it possible to address these issues and develop alternative possibilities for the future of our intimate relationships.

Stefanie Duguay is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Canada. She is a Concordia University Research Chair and Director of the Digital Intimacy, Gender and Sexuality (DIGS) Lab where her research focuses on the intersection of digital technologies and media with representations and practices pertaining to intimate life, relationships, gender, and sexuality. This has involved studies of LGBTQ+ people’s social media participation, dating apps, platform appropriation and governance, discourses of automation and algorithmic neutrality, and the role of platforms and mobile media in queer social landscapes.