Tinder and heartbeats: Wellbeing in the use of dating applications

Currently, there are more than 1500 dating applications, allowing people to connect with a single swipe. However, there is a rising concern about the behaviour encouraged by these digital forms of interactions in relation to negative effects on user wellbeing. Using an evocative autoethnographic approach combined with literature review, this study aimed to explore potential connections between the interaction design, user interactions, and user experiences within dating applications by following weekly experiences over four dating applications. The experiences were recorded with a journal, then explored using emotion capture cards, and visualised in emotionally mapped timelines. It was found that even within the first forty-five minutes of using the dating applications, significant negative emotions were experienced by the researcher. This study calls for more efforts and research from the design perspective to create interactions that are mindful and that nourish the wellbeing of users and support healthy and steady relationship developments.