Dating Apps

Abstract

This entry defines dating apps and the related main theoretical approaches. The diffusion of geolocalized apps and the datafication of society affect dating culture, leading toward instantaneous relationships that can be arranged according to the proximity of the users. Mobile hookup or dating practices were experimented in the early 2000s and LGBTQi people have historically been early adopters. Nowadays dating apps are more socially accepted, even if some social stigma persists in specific cultural contexts. Dating apps' functioning and main characteristics are analyzed from a gender perspective, revealing how interface and design features steer different usage practices. Dating apps can open new opportunities for meeting new people and experimenting with a freer sexual identity, however, representations often replicate conventional gender roles. Literature has underlined that, also in relation to usage strategies and relational patterns, traditional (normative) assumptions about gender and sexuality are at play, even if some apps and usage practices are challenging in heterosexual contexts, stereotypes of female objectification, and passivity.