“It’s not you, it’s Tinder.” Gamification, consumption, daily management and performance in dating apps

Abstract

This article addresses the uses that young people from middle sectors of Buenos Aires deploy in dating applications. At the methodological level, an exploratory investigation was carried out, which consisted of the thematic analysis of a thousand profiles and 20 structured interviews with young users of Tinder, Happn and OkCupid. Among the results, 3 emerging trends stand out. In the first place, the “gamification”, which refers to the playful and competitive experience, similar to that of the videogame, which implies the online sex search, in the sense of unraveling strategies and displaying skills to obtain a higher score (likes, matches). Second, the “surface consumption”, which refers to a way of relating to profiles as objects of consumption, which implies not only voyeurism but a constant selection of candidates. Finally, the “daily management of networks and applications” that implies a demanding performance on one’s identity in order to excel in the digital ecosystem.