Centre for Research on Inclusive Society

The Online Dating Lives Project

The main part of this work is a national online survey which explores a variety of aspects of the population’s experiences of, and attitudes towards, online dating and hookup apps. This includes:

  • the variety of apps used by the population now and in the past;
  • the diverse uses of dating and hookup apps in a range of contexts;
  • positive and negative experiences of dating and hookup apps;
  • usage of premium app features;
  • attitudes to app usage, dating and hooking up, during the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • the role of dating and hookup apps in the provision of information related to sexual health. 

The survey was completely anonymous and began with a brief overview for participants.We are currently in the process of analysing this data set which comprises almost 3,000 responses with much of it qualitative in nature.

In addition, we will be undertaking an analysis of a range of popular dating/hookup apps, as identified via the survey. This will use the walkthrough method, and will consider, for example, a given app’s environment of expected use (such as how it is marketed to consumers), its functions, features and interface arrangement, and any unexpected practices (such as the rise of media discourses like vlogs and blogs advising on how best to craft a dating/hookup app profile).

The final part of the study examines how dating and hooking up is discussed on Twitter in order to gain further insight into services which originally were seen as only for those who couldn’t get a date via traditional channels, but which have now become a key aspect of many people’s lives.

This project is supported by the University of Salford’s Innovation Strategy Fund. The research team for this project is Professor Ben Light, Dr Lisa Garwood-Cross and Dr Rachel Katz.