On Strangership
Given that this research was conducted entirely online and digitally, all members of our research group, as well as the research participants, were allowed a level of anonymity. No one was forced into video or audio chatting, or sharing anything other forms of personal details, and any intimate information gathered by the research group was volunteered without any known compensation. In fact, because the interviews were conducted by individual researchers, only the group member that conducted the interview knows of their interviewee’s identity: it remains unknown to other members of the group. Such data collection methodologies not only embody the “social distancing” strategies required of people during the global pandemic, but it also hints at the strangership that exists not only between dating app users, but also even between the researcher and the interlocutors (McDonald). That is, the researcher themselves poses as a stranger to the interviewees during the interview to ask probing questions about their experience with online dating on Tinder and Bumble. This bears striking similarity with what McDonald denotes as a stranger interaction, as it “took place via private one-to-one text or voice messaging,” rather than through more public means of communication such as on discussion threads (McDonald 82). As such, our research findings should be carefully considered within the theoretical framework of strangership.
Research Findings
Disability, sexuality, and gender identity, a person’s perception or internal sense of being a certain gender that may not correspond to what they are born with, massively contributes to how a person will receive certain services (Sharp et al.). These differences in treatment and services can be miniscule and hard to notice, for example, having a special chair in class, being expected to date a boy or girl, or receiving a pink barbie doll versus a firetruck for a birthday. However, these differences can also be substantial and greatly affect a person’s experience when these services cater to a specific gender or sexuality, because of the assumptions and expectation of society. Nowhere is this more apparent and clear than in dating apps. In the age of smartphones and apps, online dating has exploded in use and available to a wider range of people. However, as dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble grow, people with disabilities, homosexuality, and different gender identities have begun to realize that these apps do not cater to them. Both Tinder and Bumble’s user interface (UI) and advertising strategies affect users with different gender identities, disabilities, and homosexuality in different ways with UI features that were designed for those with heterosexuality, traditional gender identities, and no disabilities.