ABSTRACT
Chapter 3, ‘Liquid love? South Africans’ experiences of Tinder’, explores South Africans’ experiences of using the dating app Tinder. The expansion of the internet has altered the process and possibilities for finding romance, and Tinder is considered to be the most popular dating app. The growth of the internet and social media has given rise to a range of geo-social and dating apps, and has popularised the internet as a space to meet potential romantic partners. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, the chapter explores how South Africans use Tinder for self-presentation and to navigate their sexualities, and argues that through its interface and the act of swiping, Tinder gamifies the process of finding love online. In the South African context, there is little evidence to support Zygmunt Bauman’s claim that the networks of romantic possibility offered by online dating are eroding traditional ideals of commitment and romantic love. What the present study indicates is that in South Africa, Tinder facilitates a type of networked intimacy, creating an extension of the typical app affordances, and creating new possibilities that emerge between users’ perceptions, attitudes and expectations.
