research-article

Understanding the Role of Community in Online Dating

Authors:

Christina Masden,

W. Keith EdwardsAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '15: Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Pages 535 - 544

https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702417

Published: 18 April 2015 Publication History

Abstract

Online dating sites have become a common means of finding a romantic partner. And yet, these sites differ greatly from many other socially oriented websites: perhaps most notably, the pairwise style of interaction afforded by these sites prevents a robust online community from forming. Users, however, have taken matters into their own hands by creating thriving external forums for discussion of specific dating sites. We report on a multiple methods study of two online dating services, via observation and interviews with users of the forums associated with these sites. Our findings suggest that these forums play an essential role in creating an "outsourced community" for the dating sites, and also reveal practices around how some users "game the system" in online dating, the prevalence of harassment in online dating, and users' frustrations with current dating sites. We conclude with a number of recommendations for system design.

Supplementary Material

MP4 File (p535.mp4)

Download
129.05 MB

References

[1]

Best of Tinder -- /r/Tinder. 14 Sept 2014. https://reddit.com/r/tinder.

[2]

Georgia Institute of Technology. 22 Sept 2014. http://www.news.gatech.edu/2014/02/17/couplet-love-story.

[3]

OkCupid on Reddit -- /r/OkCupid. 14. Sept 2014. Available from: https://reddit.com/r/okcupid.

[4]

Terms | OkCupid. 12. Sept 2014. http://www.okcupid.com/legal/terms.

[5]

The Tinder-O-Matic. Sink Hacks. 22 Sept 2014. http://sinkhacks.com/tinder-o-matic/.

[6]

Usenet Personals: Advice for Straights FAQ (1/3. 14 Sept 2014. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/personals/straightfaq/part1

[7]

Bardzell, S. and J. Bardzell. Towards a Feminist HCI Methodology: Social science, Feminism, and HCI. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 201 ACM.

Digital Library

[8]

Bernard, H.H.R. et. al, Analyzing Qualitative Data: Systematic Approaches. 2009: SAGE publications.

[9]

Biel, J. and D. Gatica-Perez, The Youtube Lens: Crowdsourced Personality Impressions and Audiovisual Analysis of Vlogs. Multimedia, IEEE Transactions on, 2013. 15(1): p. 41--55.

Digital Library

[10]

Bruckman, A., et al. Managing Deviant Behavior in Online Communities. In CHI'06 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2006. ACM.

Digital Library

[11]

Bryant, S.L. et al. Becoming Wikipedian: Transformation of Participation in a Collaborative Online Encyclopedia. In Proceedings of the 2005 international ACM SIGGROUP conference on Supporting group work. 2005. ACM

Digital Library

[12]

Collins, S.A., C. Missing, Vocal and Visual Attractiveness are Related in Women. Animal behaviour, 2003. 65(5): p. 997--1004.

[13]

DeSanctis, G., et al., Learning in Online Forums. European Management Journal, 2003. 21(5): p. 565--577.

[14]

Dimond, J.P., et al. Hollaback!: The Role of Storytelling Online in a Social Movement Organization. CSCW 2013. ACM.

Digital Library

[15]

Ellison, N.B., Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2007. 13(1): p. 210--230.

[16]

Finkel, E.J., et al., Online Dating A Critical Analysis From the Perspective of Psychological Science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2012. 13(1): p. 3--66.

[17]

Fiore, A.T. et al., Online Personals: An Overview. In CHI'04 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2004. ACM.

Digital Library

[18]

Fiore, A.T., J.S. Donath. Homophily in Online Dating: When Do You Like Someone Like Yourself? In CHI'05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2005. ACM.

Digital Library

[19]

Fiore, A.T., et al. Assessing Attractiveness in Online Dating Profiles. CHI 2008. ACM.

Digital Library

[20]

Frost, J.H., et al., People are Experience Goods: Improving Online Dating with Virtual Dates. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2008. 22(1): p. 51--61.

[21]

Goffman, E., The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. 1959.

[22]

Golbeck, J., C. Robles, and K. Turner. Predicting Personality with Social Media. In CHI'11 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2011. ACM.

Digital Library

[23]

Hall, J.A., et al., Strategic misrepresentation in online dating: The effects of gender, self-monitoring, and personality traits. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2010. 27(1): p. 117--135.

[24]

Hancock, J.T., C. Toma, and N. Ellison. The Truth About Lying in Online Dating Profiles. CHI 2007. ACM.

Digital Library

[25]

Hancock, J.T. and C.L. Toma, Putting Your Best Face Forward: The Accuracy of Online Dating Photographs. Journal of Communication, 2009. 59(2): p. 367--386.

[26]

Hitsch, G.J. et al. What Makes You Click-Mate Preferences in Online Dating. Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 2010. 8(4): p. 393--427.

[27]

Irani, L.C. and M. Silberman. Turkopticon: Interrupting Worker Invisibility in Amazon Mechanical Turk. CHI 2013. ACM.

Digital Library

[28]

Jones, Q., Virtual-Communities, Virtual Settlements & Cyber-Archaeology: A Theoretical Outline. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 1997. 3(3).

[29]

Kosinski, M., D. Stillwell, and T. Graepel, Private traits and attributes are predictable from digital records of human behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013. 110(15): p. 5802--5805.

[30]

Lampe, C. and E. Johnston. Follow the (Slash) dot: Effects of Feedback on New Members in an Online Community. SIGGROUP 2005. ACM.

Digital Library

[31]

Lauterbach, D., et al. Surfing a Web of Trust: Reputation and Reciprocity on Couchsurfing.com. CSE'09. IEEE.

Digital Library

[32]

Lave, J. and E. Wenger, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. 1991: Cambridge university press.

[33]

Lee, A.Y. and A.S. Bruckman. Judging You by the Company You Keep: Dating on Social Networking Sites. CSCW 2007. ACM.

Digital Library

[34]

Masden, C.A., et al. Tensions in Scaling-up Community Social Media: A Multi-Neighborhood Study of Nextdoor. CHI 2014. ACM.

Digital Library

[35]

Oldenburg, R., The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community. 1999: Marlowe New York.

[36]

PRWeb. Dating Services in the US Industry Market Research Report from IBISWorld Has Been Updated. 2013 16 Mar. 2013; Available from: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/3/prweb10537905.htm.

[37]

Putnam, R.D., The Strange Disappearance of Civic America. American Prospect, 1996: p. 34--49.

[38]

Rosen, L.D., et al., The Impact of Emotionality and Self-Disclosure on Online Dating Versus Traditional Dating. Computers in Human Behavior, 2008. 24(5): p. 2124--2154.

Digital Library

[39]

Rudder, C., Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One's Looking). 2014: Random House LLC.

Digital Library

[40]

Skopek, J. et al. Who Contacts Whom? Educational Homophily in Online Mate Selection. European Sociological Review, 2010: p. jcp068

[41]

Smith, A., M. Duggan. Online Dating & Relationships. Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2013.

[42]

Toma, C.L. et al., Separating Fact From Fiction: An Examination of Deceptive Self-Presentation in Online Dating Profiles. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2008. 34(8): p. 1023--1036

[43]

Yee, N., et al. Introverted Elves & Conscientious Gnomes: The Expression of Personality in World of Warcraft. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2011. ACM.

Digital Library

[44]

Zytko, D. et al., Impression Management Through Communication in Online Dating. In Proceedings of the Companion Publication of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing. 2014. ACM.

Digital Library

Cited By

Rivera VWilkinson DAugusta ALi SRedmiles EStrohmayer A(2024)Safer Algorithmically-Mediated Offline Introductions: Harms and Protective BehaviorsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36869488:CSCW2(1-43)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686948
Amirkhani SAlizadeh FRandall DStevens G(2024)Beyond Dollars: Unveiling the Deeper Layers of Online Romance Scams Introducing “Body Scam”Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3651004(1-6)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613905.3651004
Shen CXu YLc RLu Z(2024)Seeking Soulmate via Voice: Understanding Promises and Challenges of Online Synchronized Voice-Based Mobile DatingProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642860(1-14)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642860
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Understanding the Role of Community in Online Dating
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
    1. Collaborative and social computing systems and tools
2. Information systems
  1. World Wide Web

Recommendations

Impression Management Struggles in Online Dating
GROUP '14: Proceedings of the 2014 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work

Online dating systems are now widely used to search for romance and yet there is little research on how people use these systems to manage their impressions with potential romantic partners. To address this issue we conducted an interview study of 41 ...
Understanding active participation of online dating services: A mixed methods study
Abstract
Online dating has transformed the way people meet and start relationships. However, online dating platforms typically have many lurkers without active participation. Using a self-regulation framework, this paper aims to study users' ...
Highlights
- Mixed methods study was used to understand user active participation in online dating.
The attractiveness, trustworthiness and desirability of autistic males’ online dating profiles
Abstract
A lack of success through traditional, face-to-face dating has led some autistic adults to pursue relationships through online dating. Creating an online dating profile, however, is a process that requires a range of complex social ...
Highlights
- Two studies of autistic males’ online dating profiles led us to develop 3 key tips for autistic online daters.

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '15: Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2015

4290 pages

ISBN:9781450331456

DOI:10.1145/2702123

General Chairs:
Bo Begole
Huawei, USA
,
Jinwoo Kim
Yonsei University, Korea
,
Program Chairs:
Kori Inkpen
Microsoft Research, USA
,
Woontack Woo
KAIST, Korea

Copyright © 2015 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

Sponsors

SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 18 April 2015

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Research-article

Funding Sources

NSF

Conference

CHI '15

Sponsor:

SIGCHI

CHI '15: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 18 - 23, 2015

Seoul, Republic of Korea

Acceptance Rates

CHI '15 Paper Acceptance Rate 486 of 2,120 submissions, 23%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

Upcoming Conference

CHI 2025

Sponsor:
sigchi

ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 26 - May 1, 2025

Yokohama , Japan

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

46
Total Citations
View Citations
1,930
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)149
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)11

Reflects downloads up to 29 Jan 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Rivera VWilkinson DAugusta ALi SRedmiles EStrohmayer A(2024)Safer Algorithmically-Mediated Offline Introductions: Harms and Protective BehaviorsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36869488:CSCW2(1-43)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686948
Amirkhani SAlizadeh FRandall DStevens G(2024)Beyond Dollars: Unveiling the Deeper Layers of Online Romance Scams Introducing “Body Scam”Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3651004(1-6)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613905.3651004
Shen CXu YLc RLu Z(2024)Seeking Soulmate via Voice: Understanding Promises and Challenges of Online Synchronized Voice-Based Mobile DatingProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642860(1-14)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642860
Maíz-Arévalo CMaíz-Arévalo C(2024)Humour as a Self-Presentation StrategyThe Power of Self-Presentation10.1007/978-3-031-52931-3_4(101-132)Online publication date: 10-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52931-3_4
Parry DFilice EJohnson C(2023)Algorithmic heteronormativity: Powers and pleasures of dating and hook-up appsSexualities10.1177/1363460722114462627:8(1589-1607)Online publication date: 18-Feb-2023
https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607221144626
He CHe LLu ZLi B(2023)Seeking Love and Companionship through Streaming: Unpacking Livestreamer-moderated Senior Matchmaking in ChinaProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581195(1-18)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544548.3581195
Van der Zanden TSchouten A(2023)Creativity, Expectancy Violations, and Impression Formation: Effects of Novelty and Appropriateness in Online Dating Profile TextsMedia Psychology10.1080/15213269.2023.229552627:6(842-868)Online publication date: 18-Dec-2023
https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2023.2295526
van der Zanden TSchouten AMos MKrahmer E(2022)Originality in online dating profile texts: How does perceived originality affect impression formation and what makes a text original?PLOS ONE10.1371/journal.pone.027486017:10(e0274860)Online publication date: 19-Oct-2022
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274860
Vosmer S(2022)Facets of love and lovesicknessGroup Analysis10.1177/0533316422109194655:3(372-390)Online publication date: 3-May-2022
https://doi.org/10.1177/05333164221091946
Cheng RHill B(2022)Many Destinations, Many Pathways: A Quantitative Analysis of Legitimate Peripheral Participation in ScratchProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35551066:CSCW2(1-26)Online publication date: 11-Nov-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3555106
Show More Cited By

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

Figures

Tables

Media

View Table of Conten