Screened Intimacies: Tinder and the Swipe Logic
This research paper was much more technical than the others, it mainly focused on the logic of swiping left and how that split second decision can make it much easier for most to reject others. It can also create increased anxiety about being liked and looking good. For instance on the the researchers who did in depth field work, using tinder for a two day period, had this to share; “…48 hours on Tinder would send me over the edge. You put a picture of yourself up, and after 48 hours, nobody finds you attractive. You’ve lost all your looks. You no longer have it. The world decided you’re ugly,” (Wygant,9). Up until now we have seen some affordances of the app and some downfalls when it comes to identity and impression management. However we have yet to discuss the issues of self image and the app.
The unique format of Tinder allows you to scroll through many many people swiping left or right and when you match (someone swiped right for you) a little emoji pops up to congratulate you. But as the researcher mentions above, if no one swipes right for you you begin to wonder why. Many people can grow anxious and self conscious because no one around them “found their images attractive”. When speaking to a few of my respondents in my own research they had expressed feel anxious that no one would swipe right for them.
It sometimes can be even more intimidating on Tinder than in real life because you definitely know when someone doesn’t like you. Verse in real life, you can make excuses and jokes that maybe it just wasn’t your night. But when you know people are looking at your pictures and swiping left, and you open your phone to find zero matches, you get self conscious. -Kailey
Here my respondent explains why she felt that being on Tinder and being rejected can be more harmful than being rejected in real life. When you are at a large party and no one comes and talks to you there are many ways to shake that off. Maybe it wasn’t your night as Kailey put it, or maybe you wore the wrong shirt, maybe everyone is too intoxicated or even shy to make a move or introduce themselves to you. So many different factors can go into a face to face interaction or lack thereof, but with Tinder you have a different level of certainty that people are not interested. Many people saw your photo and did not swipe right, they did not want to match with you which is purposefully choosing not to engage with you. It leaves a lot of more room to feel insecure.