This study researches communication 2020-2021 via the Tinder dating app in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a framework of mediatization, uses and gratification theory and affordance theory. Data collection was performed using qualitative interviews via Zoom video calls with respondents based in Sweden and findings were analyzed using thematic analysis.  Results of the study discusses phenomena when the physical world and a mediatized one interlock: even though the Tinder app afforded people to connect during the COVID-19 pandemic, the worlds are not independent of each other. Uncertainty and stress could seep into the dating app practice and create a hindrance to easy communication, even though the Tinder app was trying to accommodate the changing times. The study explores that the dehumanizing aspect of reducing a person to a single attribute and deleting that person is connected to a heightened affordance of gamification of relationships that is connected to deep mediatization, moments of our everyday practices immersed in new kinds of mediated communication. Steered behaviour from the app occurs in the Tinder interface which this paper explores, connected to data-driven decision making, a critical tool allowing mobile app developers to not only figure out customer behaviour but also to design customised products. Connected here is the mediatized interplay between humans and technology. If the Tinder app was hard to set up or navigate, the different needs and gratifications would not be met and users would simply vanish.  This paper argues the Tinder app design encourages speed and has coded distractions to actually work against the perceived gratification of meeting a partner and ultimately rendering the service redundant. The COVID-19 pandemic, this thesis explores, has spurred different generations to adapt to new practices and technologies but that these affordances do not always correlate to new dating app practices such as video dating. A mediatized way of meeting physically has been brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional step has been added to online dating practices, the walk, which has 2 lowered the threshold of the initial date by being perceived as an easier option. A direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic connected to online dating. This paper also argues intimacy through media sharing, such as humour and jokes via technology in a mediatized world. Lastly, this paper explores the safety aspects of the Tinder app, connected to catfishing and also gender blindness.

This thesis is about what it feels like to connect, or fail, during digital or face-to-face interaction. This study aims to investigate one of the types of social interaction - sex dating and examines the role and impact of location-based dating applications in current form. The practical part is based on qualitative research method in form of in-depth interview with 18 active users. It compares experience of heterosexual and homosexual users with this non-anonymous digital environment integrate individuals into a fluid virtual space. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Smarttelefoner med applikationer har öppnat upp för nya kommunikationsmöjligheter. Denna studie undersöker den kontaktskapande applikationen Tinder, utifrån användarnas upplevelse av applikationen. Tinder är en positionsbaserad kontaktskapande realtidsapplikation som har flera miljoner användare världen över. Varje användare måste koppla upp sin profil mot Facebook, varifrån profilbilder, namn, ålder och gemensamma vänner hämtas. I studien undersöktes hur unga vuxna i åldern 18-30år, bosatta i Stockholm förhåller sig till hur Tinders funktioner och gränssnitt bidragit till applikationens genomslag. Studien baseras på Normans sex designprinciper, enkätsvar från 120 personer samt intervjuer med användare inom målgruppen. Resultatet visade att anledningen till Tinders framgång är en kombination av tre faktorer. Den första är att applikationen förhåller sig till Normans designprinciper. Den andra är att det skapas en trygghetskänsla hos användarna genom att i Tinders fall koppla varje användare till dennes Facebook-konto, samt att marknadsföra applikationen på rätt sätt. Tinder lyckades med det sistnämnda genom att marknadsföra och utforma applikationen som en kontaktskapande applikation snarare än en dejtingapplikation, vilket lockar en något annorlunda målgrupp. / Smartphones with applications have created new communication opportunities. This study explores the application Tinder by examining the user experience. Tinder is a location-based application which has millions of users worldwide. Each user has to connect their profile to Facebook, from which Tinder gets the users' profile pictures, names, age and mutual friends. In the thesis, we examine how young adults of age 18 to 30, living in Stockholm, relate to how Tinder's functions and interface have contributed to the success of the application. The study is based on the six design principles created by Norman, a survey with 120 respondants that has used the application and interviews. The results show that the reason for Tinder's success is a combination of three factors. The first is that the application relates to Norman's six design principles. The second reason is that a sense of security created for the users of the profile's connection to Facebook. The third is that Tinder has been marketing their application not as a datingapplication, but as a way for people to meet others, which attracts a slightly different target group.

Denna uppsats kommer att undersö̈ka hur designen och anvä̈ndandet av mobildejtingtjä̈nsten Tinder har påverkat beteenden och normer gä̈llande nä̈tdejting bland unga vuxna i Sverige. Ett huvudsyfte är att undersöka hur olika interaktionsmekanismer i Tinder påverkar synen på nätdejting och potentiella partners. Vidare undersöker vi faktorer som skiljer Tinder från övriga nätdejtingtjänster, samt vilka normer som synliggörs genom användandet av Tinder. Genom en nätbaserad enkätundersökning kunde vi samla användarupplevelser och åsikter från användare av Tinder. Baserat på materialet från enkätundersökningen utförde vi tre fokusgrupper vars syfte var att fördjupa perspektiv unga vuxna hade gällande nätdejting och Tinder. Resultatet presenteras genom att analysera data från informanterna kombinerat med teorier om användarupplevelse (User Experience), affordanser, designkvalitéer, självrepresentation, spelifiering och marknadsmetaforer. Vi kunde se åtskilliga mekanismer associerade med spelifiering i Tinder gällande design och användarbeteende. Generellt verkar också Tinderanvändare reproducera rådande könsnormer i en annars neutral och minimalistisk design. Vidare fanns marknadsmetaforer gällande nätdejting i Tinder. Tinder tycks även ha tilltalat en ny målgrupp inom nätdejting, således ansedd avslappnad och jämbördig annan social media. Kopplingen till Facebook bidrar också till en ökad tillit för självrepresantationen bland Tinderanvändare. Slutligen ser vi att den svepcentrerade “ja-eller-nej-funktionaliteten” i Tinder verkar ha skapat en standard som kommer att påverka framtida dejtingtjänster och användarupplevelser. / This report aims to examine how the design and usage of the mobile dating application Tinder has affected behaviors and norms regarding online dating amongst young adults in Sweden. One main purpose is to examine how different interaction mechanisms in Tinder affects the view of online dating and potential partners. Additionally factors that differentiate Tinder from other online dating services will be examined. Furthermore social norms that are made visible through the usage of Tinder will be addressed. By creating an online survey it was possible to retrieve user experiences of Tinder usage and opinions about Tinder and online dating. Based on material from the survey three focus group interviews were conducted, which gathered different perspectives young adults had regarding online dating and Tinder. The conclusion will be presented by analyzing the data from the informants combined with theories such as User Experience, affordances, design qualities, self representation, gamification and market metaphors. Several mechanism associated with gamification were found in Tinder regarding design and user behavior. The Tinder users in general also seem to reproduce current gender norms in an otherwise neutral and minimalistic design. Furthermore market metaphors were found regarding online dating in Tinder. Additionally Tinder seems to target a new group of users in online dating, accordingly considered as ”laid-back” and equal to other social media. The connection to Facebook also contributes to an increased trust towards the self representation of Tinder users. Finally the swipe centered “yes-or-no-functionality” of Tinder seems to create a standard that will affect future dating services and User Experience.

While a growing body of literature exists examining how intersecting social identities and structural organizations shape the on-campus hookup script, research examining the impact of technology on the hookup culture has been virtually nonexistent. Addressing this gap, this study adds to a current body of literature on the hookup culture and online dating by exploring how a diverse sample of young women and non-binary, femme individuals understand and negotiate interpersonal sexual scripts through the mobile dating app Tinder. Ultimately, findings from 25 in-depth interviews reveal how Tinder has shaped the sexual scripts of young adult dating into a "hybrid hookup script." Unlike the traditional college hookup culture, which centers the hookup script on fraternity parties, sexual dancing, and drinking, the hybrid hookup script reintroduces traditional dating practices, such as formal dates, into the modern sexual scripts of young adults. Specifically, the hybrid hookup script maintains the traditional gendered expectation that men initiate conversations and dates, while incorporating the patterns of drinking and the expectation of non-relational sex central to the on-campus hookup culture. Nearly all participants engaged in the hybrid hookup script to some extent; yet, women of color were overrepresented among those who eventually opted out of Tinder altogether. In particular, experiences of sexual and racial harassment created an environment in which women of color felt racially objectified and fetishized. As a result, the majority of women of color indicated that they deleted the app and did not intend to go back. Overall, results underscore how the Tinder app may be operating to rearticulate existing hierarchies of gender and race.

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This diploma thesis focuses on the motivations of users to create an account within the location- based mobile dating applications. The work is processed by statistical analysis of already published studies dealing with the same or similar topics. The main target of this paper is to calculate the effect size of individual motives in relation to the sex of the respondents. The diploma thesis starts with description of the history of online dating, specific mobile applications included in my meta-analysis, user behavior in individual stages of using these applications (profile settings, selection of other profiles, communication and its development in time), followed by the methodological part where the meta-analysis itself is desribed, the process of its creation and its weak and strong aspects. In the following chapter the results of the meta-analysis and their interpretation are presented as well as self-reflection of this paper along the recommendations for future researches. Analysis helped to reveal the differences between the sexes and also helped to synthesize the acquired studies dealing with this topis. The most notable influence of gender can be seen in the motivation of casual sex, to a lesser extent in the motivation to seek love, friends, the use of the application because of the ease...