The master thesis looks at marital satisfaction and stability in Czech marriages between 2005 and 2015. The aim of the thesis was to find out whether meeting your spouse online or offline affects marital satisfaction and break-up rate (separation and divorce). The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on attractiveness, the characteristics of a good relationship, the development of marital satisfaction and existing research on online dating. A nationally representative sample of 316 respondents provided answers in an online questionnaire. The results indicate that one in three Czech marriages now begin online. Half of the online group met on an online dating site and 17 % on a social media site. When compared to those that began offline, "online marriages" were slightly less likely to end up in a marital break-up (31 % offline, 26,5 % online) and reported slightly higher marital satisfaction. However, none of these differences were statistically significant. The differences were higher when the online group was narrowed down to the ones who met on an online dating site and on a social media site but remained statistically insignificant. This group also retrospectively reported better fulfilment of their criteria for their life companion at the beginning of a relationship (p=0,041). In general, men...

AbstractTitle: How does people that meet online communicate? -An qualitativestudy of the media use for individuals that date online.Number of pages: 34Autohor: Malin JanssonTutor: Amelie HössjerCourse: Media and Communication Studies CPeriod: Spring term, January 2010University: Informatics and Media, Media and Communication ScienceUppsala UniversityPurpose/Aim: The aim of this essay is to see if mediea use changesthrogh time in a relationship between individuals that have metonline.Material/Method: Qualitative method with nine interviews divided into two groupsdepending whether the person is an actively dejting online or ifshe has a long term relationship with someone she have metonline.Main results: The use of digital media changes thorugh time in therelationship. The individuals stop using the net dejting whenthey meet someone. The digital medias are stage at the begginingof the relationship. Through time they use a multiple ofdigital medias but they have preferenses and prefers to use thetelephone both when they are communicating positive andnegatvie information.Keywords: Online dating, social penetration, process of getting to knoweachother, communication. Mediaded Communication, face toface communication.

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to clarify and describe what image men and women present and communicate in their profiles on an online dating site. Further has been investigated if traditional gender roles and stereotypes are as pronounced on this online platform or if it offers a space to go beyond traditional formations. The theoretical framework of this study consisted of a social psychological idea and understanding of identity as well as a gender theoretical perspective. The methodological points of departure were hermeneutic and the data consisted of ten male and ten female member profiles on match.com. The results of the study was divided into three themes, the emphasis on positive qualities, the attractive body and project manager to one’s own life. The results showed that both men and women present a positive image of themselves in their profiles, both concerning inner and outer qualities. The results also indicated that a life with various social activities is of great importance, which implies a reflexive attitude towards life. To create an image of oneself is strenuous work in constant change. Regarding traditional gender roles and stereotypes about what is being regarded as male and female showed that traditional, stereotype ways of describing masculinity and femininity exist, but there were certain tendencies that a crossing of traditional formations takes place on this platform. However, the result of this study has also revealed that this happens to a lesser extent than we first thought.

台灣寂寞商機的興盛，以及網路的蓬勃發展，使網路交友平台越來越熱絡，紛紛進入產業分食大餅，但並非各個網路交友平台皆能吸引龐大用戶的興趣，進而長駐於平台之內，使平台順利成長。有些網路交友平台缺乏自我特色，最終落得合併與收場的地步；然而，有部分擁有強烈特色與清楚定位的網路交友平台，不僅穩坐產業前幾名寶座，更是不斷自我成長，讓用戶與平台間的關係越趨緊密、密不可分，本研究試圖回答以下兩大問題： 一、 交友平台如何建立用戶專屬陷入成本，增加其對平台的黏著性？ 二、 交友平台企業如何創造對客戶的價值？ 為回答上述兩大問題，本研究依序分析平台機制設計、探討平台建立用戶信任感的因素、研究平台專屬資產的類型、以及平台創造顧客價值的層面，並根據分析結果，本研究針對實務與後續研究提出建議。本研究提出以下結論： 一、 網路交友平台的定位明確，掌握以定位出發的核心機制設計，衍生開發功能，善用插旗、築牆、圍城策略，環環相扣，能提昇用戶對平台的黏著度。 二、 網路交友平台善用社群策略，洞悉用戶網路外部性的運作，會提昇平台對用戶的價值，也會對企業成長產生正向回饋。 / With a view to business opportunity of single people and a flourishing Internet, it is getting great demand of online dating businesses in Taiwan in order to divide up the market. However, not every online dating business can arouse enthusiasm in their members, not to mention building up the stickiness of platform business. Some of them are lack of characteristics and it result in the condition of mergers and acquisitions, and even ending up their businesses in the long run. But some possess strong styles and clear position, they not only having good ratings but also make tighter relationship between members and themselves. Specifically, the present study tries to answer the following two questions: 1. How do the online dating business build up asset specificity cost and increase the customer stickiness? 2. How do online dating businesses make value creation? By analyzing the platform mechanism, this study concludes that: 1. The clear position of platform and mastering core mechanism, and making progress in developing interrelated functions can increase the customer stickiness of members toward online dating businesses. 2. Online dating businesses which are good at strategy of community and Internet externality can increase the platform value, and also have positive impact on the growth of platform business.

The thesis and exhibition, Interaction: Portraiture in a Digital World, seeks to analyze digital portraiture today. I choose to depict concepts and ideas, as they relate to digital portraiture, through four distinct series of work, which encompass similar ideas and themes, but come at them from different perspectives. The work within the exhibition is comprised of several portraits of personal friends, family, and acquaintances, which have all been appropriated from online sources such as Facebook, and online dating sites. Because the portraits consist of people that I know on a personal level, are a collection of portraits that are derived from my personal social media profile, and represent individuals with whom I have frequently interacted with online, one could assess that in addition to being a collection of unique individual portraits, the exhibition is also a self-portrait of me, the artist. The exhibition includes Facebook Text Portraits, Nightclub Portraits, Online Dating HTML Portraits, and a Crying Girl Portrait, all of which strive to blur the lines between art and digital design, while addressing the function and meaning of digital portraiture today.

The thesis and exhibition, Interaction: Portraiture in a Digital World, seeks to analyze digital portraiture today. I choose to depict concepts and ideas, as they relate to digital portraiture, through four distinct series of work, which encompass similar ideas and themes, but come at them from different perspectives. The work within the exhibition is comprised of several portraits of personal friends, family, and acquaintances, which have all been appropriated from online sources such as Facebook, and online dating sites. Because the portraits consist of people that I know on a personal level, are a collection of portraits that are derived from my personal social media profile, and represent individuals with whom I have frequently interacted with online, one could assess that in addition to being a collection of unique individual portraits, the exhibition is also a self-portrait of me, the artist. The exhibition includes Facebook Text Portraits, Nightclub Portraits, Online Dating HTML Portraits, and a Crying Girl Portrait, all of which strive to blur the lines between art and digital design, while addressing the function and meaning of digital portraiture today.

Dating online applications have fundamentally changed the form of online dating. They are available on a mobile phone and are based on spatial proximity of users and ease of use. This diploma thesis focuses on users of these applications. This thesis is based on the assumptions of the uses and gratifications theory, which assumes that the media audience is active and uses the media to satisfy its needs. The aim of this thesis is to find out how individuals use the dating applications and what their reasons for using are. To collect data, I chose a combination of quantitative and qualitative approach. First, an on-line questionnaire survey was conducted, followed by semi- structured interviews with applications users. Research has shown that the reason for using and the attitude of users varies with each individual and can change during use. Keywords dating applications, Tinder, online dating, uses and gratifications theory, active audience, mixed methods research

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:20:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 VergasVAS_TESE.pdf: 3797183 bytes, checksum: a230fe58f7c325737569d93a5fe23553 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-25 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This research aims to acknowledge the virtual dating phenomenon. The research deals with this phenomenon in Orkut, a social networking website. Thus, it considers debates and forums that were present in a Brazilian Orkut online community called Conheci meu amor pela internet (I met my love through the Internet). As a staring point the research dealt with issues such as: what are the debates about? How can we deal with practices that question their own dating process? According to the initial hypothesis, these debates reveal different contemporary social aspects: 1) they emerge as a response to demands on behalf of a society that is rather reflexive. This reflexive element is fundamental for the constitution of the self 2) these debates work as support elements in social relations that are built upon this sphere. In this context, individuals write about themselves and constitute themselves as real individuals that acquire a sense as subjects; and 3) people discuss online dating as form reconstructing former experiences. Empirical analysis demonstrates that these forums and polls present themselves as a social phenomenon that allows a particular form of self presentation on the internet. In order for these subjects to present themselves they built their own self narratives. What is possible to acknowledge considering these narratives is that there is a predominance of the element of intrigue that is further solved and demonstrate a satisfactory result. These narrators then choose online dating situation that present happy endings and happiness that are associated to romantic ideals that are worthwhile being shown. The contents present in these narratives are dealt with by the research. Thus, this work defends the thesis that the online dating narratives are a mixture of facts and fiction once all experiences deal with romantic imaginary as well as personal dating experience. Thus, the research is an attempt to understand what goes on the forums and debates that deal with the fictionalized and dramatized daily experiences in the performances that are similar to games. This is possible due to the fact that there is use of romantic fables and concrete experiences realized by online dating / A pesquisa se prop?e a estudar o fen?meno do namoro virtual atrav?s da observa??o do Orkut, rede social on-line. Para tanto, analisa os debates travados em f?runs e enquetes de uma de suas comunidades virtuais, chamada Conheci meu amor pela internet. Como ponto de partida, colocam-se as seguintes quest?es: em que se revestem tais debates? O que subjaz ?s pr?ticas que visam interrogar os pr?prios namoros? Conforme as hip?teses iniciais, tais debates desvelam diferentes aspectos sociais contempor?neos: 1) eles emergem para responder ?s demandas de uma sociedade que toma a reflexividade como elemento fundamental para a constitui??o do eu; 2) convertem-se em suportes, na medida em que as rela??es sociais, tecidas nesses espa?os, aparecem investidas por uma escrita de si que indiv?duos lan?am m?o para se constitu?rem enquanto sujeitos de sentido; por fim, 3) discutem-se namoros virtuais com vistas a reconstruir de outra maneira aquilo que foi vivido. A an?lise emp?rica demonstra que esses f?runs e enquetes apresentam-se enquanto um fen?meno social que d? origem a uma forma particular de apresenta??o do eu na internet. No ensejo por apresentarem-se, os mesmos atores acabam por construir narrativas de si. O que se observa nessas narrativas de namoros virtuais ? a predomin?ncia de uma intriga, cujo desfecho revela-se exitoso, de resultado satisfat?rio, feliz. Os narradores elegem casos de namoros virtuais que se desenrolam sob a forma de uma felicidade amorosa associada a ideais rom?nticos como dignos de serem retratados. O teor dessas narrativas ? desses aspectos tribut?rio. Portanto, a partir dessas formula??es, defende-se neste trabalho a tese segundo a qual as narrativas de namoros virtuais s?o um misto de fato e fic??o, na medida em que s?o narrativas tecidas com empr?stimo tanto do imagin?rio rom?ntico quanto da pr?pria experi?ncia amorosa vivida nos namoros. Em resumo, esta pesquisa esfor?a-se por compreender f?runs e enquetes cujo cotidiano amoroso ? ficcionalizado e dramatizado atrav?s de jogos perform?ticos compostos pela fabula??o rom?ntica e pela experi?ncia de concretude dos namoros virtuais

This thesis deals with a pragmatic analysis of profiles of online dating service in Czech Republic. The main objective of this work is to interpret a form of profile presentation on an online dating site. The profiles are interpreted in terms of communication situation, of communication strategies, of the differences between male and female profiles and of the differences between different age profiles. Interpretation of the data is based on stylistic and pragmatic analysis of individual profiles of online dating service and on the percentage of relevant data. The theoretical part of the thesis defines research of the online dating services, existing theories and research of internet environment concerning the foundation of internet dating services, gender stereotypes in online dating, self-presentation online and choosing a partner. The theoretical part consists also of a summary of my own brief survey about people's attitudes to online dating services. The theoretical part of the thesis defines also the pragmatic exploration which constitutes the basis of pragmatic analysis. The basis of practical part of the thesis is stylistic analysis of the text parts of profiles and pragmatic analysis of text and visual part of profiles and the comparison of the percentage of relevant data. Results of the...

Syftet med studien var att bidra med förståelse för hur användare av applikationen framställer sig själva, jämfört med hur de konsumerar samt bedömer andras profiler. Studien tar upp huruvida konsumtionskultur och sociala strukturer påverkar konsumenternas användning av Tinder samt hur det uttrycker sig i deras konsumtion. Studien har genomförts genom en kvalitativ ansats som grundats i tre fokusgruppsdiskussioner. Fokus har där legat kring hur och varför personer använder sig av nätdejtingapplikationen Tinder. Det empiriska materialet i studien är analyserad med hjälp av teorier kring konsumtionskultur ur ett socialpsykologiskt synsätt. Frågorna har utformats genom en undersökning av konsumenters användande och beteende kopplat till applikationen vilket resulterat i följande frågeställningar, Vad önskar användaren uppfylla genom sin konsumtion av Tinder?, Hur framställer man sig själv genom sin profil på Tinder? och Hur konsumerar användaren andras profiler på applikationen? Studiens resultat visar på att unga vuxna konsumerar applikationen när de har en önskan om att fly vardagen. Konsumtionen bidrar till en uppskattning av konsumenternas egna värde och resulterar i konsumenternas självförverkligande med applikationen som redskap. Tinder ger utlopp för fantasi vilket blir värdeskapande för konsumenten när hen konstruerar sin egna profil eller när hen konsumerar andras profiler. / The purpose of this study was to contribute an understanding of how users of the application Tinder present themselves, compared to how they consume and evaluate others profiles. The study addresses whether consumption culture and social structures affect consumers' use of Tinder and how it shows through their consumption. The study has been conducted through a qualitative approach based on three focus group discussions. The main focus has been on how and why people use the online dating application Tinder. The empirical material has been analyzed by using theories of consumption culture from a social psychological perspective. The research questions aims to study the needs and purpose of consumers linked to the application, which has resulted in the following questions: What does the consumers wish to fulfill through its consumption of Tinder?, How do consumers present themselves through their profiles on Tinder? and How does the user consume others profiles on the application? The result of the study shows that young adults consume the application when they wish to escape everyday life. Consumption contributes to an estimation of the consumers own value and results in the consumers self-realization with the application as a tool. Tinder provides the outlet for imagination that creates value for the consumer when constructing his own profile or when consuming others profiles. The thesis is written in Swedish.