Igniting romance : understanding tinder and its influence on interpersonal relationships

The use of social dating applications such as Tinder has skyrocketed and reshaped how social romantic relationships are formed in recent years. Regardless of user intentions, Tinder is often the go-to application because of its large population base. Being a relatively new phenomenon, the trend of using social dating applications in the search for love is laden with stereotypes. By interviewing 10 male and 10 female Tinder users between ages 21-25, this research paper seeks to illuminate the role Tinder plays in reshaping the process of romantic pursuits. Thereafter, ‘actor network theory’ and Giddens’ ‘impression management’ will be used as toolkits in evaluating the accuracy of Bauman’s ‘liquid love’ on Tinder users in Singapore. Since this study is an exploratory one, we hope to shed some light on the effectiveness, benefits and limitations of Tinder for the quest for love in the postmodern society.Bachelor of Art