<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Title: ”Dating Online. Self-Marketing Through Sweden's Biggest Dating Site – Match.com”</p><p>Number of pages: 34</p><p>Author: Joanna Stokowska</p><p>Tutor: Amelie Hössjer</p><p>Course: Media and Communication Studies C</p><p>Period: Autumn term 2005</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication Studies, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University</p><p>Purpose/aim: The aim of this paper is to study the online dating phenomenon. The questions to be answered are: how do people form their personal profiles? Does the method of how one markets him/herself, within an online dating service, vary among different age groups?</p><p>Material/method: 100 personal profiles have been downloaded and analysed from Sweden's largest dating website, Match.com. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used when analysing the data.</p><p>Main results: Match.com gives clear instructions on how to form a profile. The company makes sure that the content of all the personal sites fulfils the company’s policy. The differences in how people in different age groups and of different gender advertise themselves, through profiles, are relatively small. Most of individuals tend to focus on descriptions of their personality, favourite activities and body. Interaction through the profiles (seen as channels) tends to have an intimate form.</p><p>Keywords: Dating online, personal profiles, mediated intimacy, mediated interaction.</p>

ABSTRACT Title: ”Dating Online. Self-Marketing Through Sweden's Biggest Dating Site – Match.com” Number of pages: 34 Author: Joanna Stokowska Tutor: Amelie Hössjer Course: Media and Communication Studies C Period: Autumn term 2005 University: Division of Media and Communication Studies, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Purpose/aim: The aim of this paper is to study the online dating phenomenon. The questions to be answered are: how do people form their personal profiles? Does the method of how one markets him/herself, within an online dating service, vary among different age groups? Material/method: 100 personal profiles have been downloaded and analysed from Sweden's largest dating website, Match.com. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used when analysing the data. Main results: Match.com gives clear instructions on how to form a profile. The company makes sure that the content of all the personal sites fulfils the company’s policy. The differences in how people in different age groups and of different gender advertise themselves, through profiles, are relatively small. Most of individuals tend to focus on descriptions of their personality, favourite activities and body. Interaction through the profiles (seen as channels) tends to have an intimate form. Keywords: Dating online, personal profiles, mediated intimacy, mediated interaction.