How Online Dating is Changing our Love Lives

1. DATE THE
RAINBOW
CREATED BY JENA HUDSON
Image by Nan Palmero
How Online Dating is Changing
our Love Lives

2. .
"Social media is a
communication
mechanism that allows
users to communicate
with thousands, and
perhaps billions, of
individuals all over the
world" (Williams et al.,
2012).
Image by Nathan Rupert

3. .
These online
communications are
turning into real
connections
Image by Brett Sayer

4. Research by the Pew Research Center finds "the
line between the virtual and real worlds has almost
completely blurred... kids say they have deep and
meaningful relationships
with people online and in person." (2015)

5. Image by sitmonkeysupreme
"The Internet
has become a
common
tool used to
seek friends
and romantic
and
sexual partners
" (Couch, 2016)

6. met in person with
those they met on
the internet for
sexual purposes
35%
of women of men
40% and
(Couch, 2016)

7. THE GAY
COMMUNITY IS
DOING MORE AND
MORE DATING
ONLINE
"Now even the most
respectable gay
conversation is
studded, pardon the
pun, with cyberspace
encounters."
(Clark, 2016)

8. Image by Iker Merodio
"Online dating services and chat
rooms have become the most
popular way for gay people to get
a date, with 87% of gay men and
58% of gay women claiming to
have used them over the last
year"
(In Brief, 2007)

9. "University of NSW’s Kirby
Institute sociology
associate professor Garrett
Prestage, said
80%
of gay men now find
their boyfriends
through apps and
dating websites."
(Brook, 2015)
Image by Adam McGee

10. .
The gay community,
through online dating, are
meeting up in person more
than other online groups.

11. Image by philippe leroyer
23% of interviewed male gay dating site users said they had
met in person with at least 1 guy from a site in the past
month. (Alvear, 2015)
Only 20­30% of teens have ever met an online
friend in person.
(Lenhart, 2015. Kang, 2015)

12. ONLINE DATING IS GOING
MOBILE
Image by Tati Tata

13. "Phones are no longer just
for making calls"
84% of 18-34 year olds use
smartphones to surf the
internet
(Krashinsky, 2014)
Image by Alexandra E Rust

14. JACK'D, MANHUNT,
AND THE MANHUNT
DAILY BLOG,
RECEIVE A
COMBINED 2 MILLION
UNIQUE VISITS DAILY.
(Gay dating apps)
(Online, 2013)
Image by Nathan Rupert

15. Some of the top ranking
gay dating apps have an
average of 10,000 installs
each day.
(Online, 2013)

16. "LOCATION-
BASED
REAL-TIME
DATING
APPS
facilitate local, immediate social or sexual
encounters". These systems draw on GPS technologies
and simplify connecting gay men.
(Blackwell et al., 2016)
Image by Noodles and Beef

17. MOST POPULAR APPS
Scruff
Grinder
Tinder
Adam4Adam
29%
16%
10%
10%
(Alvear, 2015)

18. "What I like about
Grindr is that it makes
every space a
potentially gay
space... Grindr gives me
the chance to pull out
my phone and have a
gay bar in my pocket."
(Blackwell et al., 2016)
Image by M.Gustave

19. Image by Balvou
"Grindr... collapses or
erases contextual cues
about normative
behavior"
(Blackwell et al., 2016)
It is
changing the
way we date.

20. All images pulled from Flickr, with attributions on each slide
Alvear , Mike. “83 Percent of Gay Men Have Sent a Dick Pic on Dating Apps ...” The Huffington Post , 2 Feb. 2016,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike­alvear/83­percent­of­gay­men­send­dick­pics­on­dating­apps­says­
survey_b_6893316.html.
Blackwell, Courtney, et al. "Seeing and being seen: Co­Situation and Impression Formation using Grindr, a
Location­Aware Gay Dating App." New Media & Society 17.7 (2015): 1117­36. Web. 23 Oct. 2016
Brook, Benedict. “Four out of Five Gay Men Now Find Their Long Term Partners ...” Star Observer , 5 Apr. 2015,
http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/national­news/four­out­of­five­gay­men­now­find­their­long­term­partners­
online/134922.
Clark, Malcolm. “All Penises Are at Least Eight Inches, and Nobody Is Ever Bald: Welcome to the Gay Men's
Online Dating Service.”New Statesman, 2001, p. 24. Academic OneFile,
http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.queensu.ca/ps/i.do?
p=aone&sw=w&u=queensulaw&v=2.1&it=r&id=gale|a75288595&sid=summon&asid=2cee4293623397073c3df9e6
a03c6636.
Kang , Cecilia. “Third of All Teens Who Meet Strangers Online Are Meeting ...” The Washington Post , 6 Aug.
2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the­switch/wp/2015/08/06/why­kids­are­meeting­more­strangers­
online­than­ever­before/.
Krashinsky, Susan. “Four Ways Canadians Are Consuming Media Differently ­ The ...” The Globe and Mail, 4 Dec.
2014, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report­on­business/industry­news/marketing/four­ways­canadians­are­
consuming­media­differently/article21949630/.
"IN BRIEF: Online Dating Services Popular with Gay Users." New Media Age, 2007., pp.
11http://search.proquest.com.proxy.queensu.ca/docview/225169146?accountid=6180.
Lenhart, Amanda. “Teens, Technology and Friendships | Pew Research Center.” Pew Research Center, 6 Aug.
2015, http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens­technology­and­friendships/.
“Online Buddies; Online Buddies Acquires Gay Dating App Jack'd.” Mergers &Amp; Acquisitions Week, 27 Nov.
2013, p. 51. Factiva .
Williams, D.L., Crittenden, V.L., Keo, T. and McCarty, P. (2012), “The use of social media: an exploratory study of
uses among digital natives”, Journal of Public Affairs, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 127‐136.
Works Cited