Interaction mediated by a swipe culture: An observation focused on mobile dating applications

Abstract

In a society where smartphones and mobile connectivity increasingly act as mediators and enhancers of social ties, we can identify technological solutions that bring new challenges to the user, particularly in the way he interacts and communicates with others. This article, by focusing on mobile apps that promote social and loving ties between strangers (Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, etc.), driven by a swipe-based interaction paradigm, aims to explore new challenges, that not only imply technical and operational skills, but also particular habits of interaction (the so-called "swipe culture"). These new behaviours, that include choices and interactions made by the users (actions like accept, discard and/or moving to the next user), as well as the standardized and algorithmically mediated choices made by the apps algorithms, brought to life new scenarios related to info-communicational behaviours. Therefore, the swipe culture and user centered design (UCD) triggered these new habits and behaviours, that were made possible by the features offered by mobile dating applications. Finally, these new habits and behaviours revealed new perceptions and trends in how interactions and relationships can become more disposable, sterile and standardized in the described context.