The gamification of dating online
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20142013 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karim Nader (0000-0003-3571-1796, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Theoria (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0040-5825 • E-ISSN: 1755-2567 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/theo.12549 |
| OpenAlex | W4400332702 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 25 |
Dating apps such as Tinder are designed to be played like a game. Users play by swiping left and right on others' profiles to indicate whether they are romantically or sexually interested in them. They match with those who reciprocate their interest. The goal of the game is to match with as many people as possible, prioritizing rapid gratification over the pursuit of meaningful connections. Tinder's design elements and monetization strategies incentivize users to prioritize gathering matches, replacing the complexity of actual dating with a series of discrete decisions. Playing the matching game on Tinder makes dating more immediately gratifying, so users have started to play the game as an end in itself. The app becomes a source of entertainment instead of a means to build valuable connections. This also transforms the activity of dating as users spend time building appealing profiles and attempt to manipulate the algorithm to maximize their matching potential. Gamifying our romantic and sexual lives has negative consequences on people's self‐image as their personal worth becomes entwined with their success on the app. Individuals are reduced to mere players in the game, and the algorithm itself disproportionately favors users with conventional preferences. Gamification can be dangerous when the boundary between the game and real life blurs
Advertising · Art · Entertainment · Gratification · Human–computer interaction · Internet privacy · Matching (statistics) · Monetization · Multimedia · Romance · Video game · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Mathematics · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Psychology
Development and validation of the Tinder Motives Scale (TMS)
Target Article
A Rejection Mind-Set
Judging books by their covers – Tinder interface, usage and sociocultural implications
What are you doing on Tinder? Impression management on a matchmaking mobile app
Games
The Burden of Choice
Let’s Play Tinder! Aesthetics of a Dating App
Dating Apps
Dating apps
When Online Meets Offline
From swiping to casual sex and/or committed relationships
What does the app want? A psychoanalytic interpretation of dating apps’ libidinal economy
Homo ludens
Gone with the wind
Screened Intimacies
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |