Dating apps in Canadian context: Examining digital harms, intimate intrusions and equitable relationship-building through mobile technologies

Research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Principal Investigator: Diana Perry, University of Waterloo

Co-Applicants: Stefanie Duguay, Concordia University

                        Eric Filice, University of Waterloo

Collaborator: Corey Johnson, North Carolina State University

Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, and other apps for meeting people are firmly part of Canadians' everyday lives. These geosocial networking applications (GSNAs), accessed through mobile devices, are widely discussed as the catalyst for new connections and relationships as their users find friends, dates, relationships, and even new jobs or apartments by swiping through profiles. However, GSNAs also facilitate harm and violence, with users reporting experiences of sexual harassment and threats in their interactions. This project examines how GSNAs are designed, envisioned by stakeholders, and experienced by Canadians to understand how they feature in equitable uses–those fostering positive outcomes across diverse users–and how to address and prevent their use for inequitable, violent ends. 

To address this gap, this study spans four objectives, which form the project's driving questions:

1.     What measures, governance policies, and technological features are currently in place within GSNAs to promote user safety, and what gaps and insufficiencies create the potential for harm?

2.     How do Canadian GSNA users of diverse backgrounds experience and negotiate the potential dangers and opportunities of the technology?

3.     How are various stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, GSNA companies, civil society groups) working to enable safer interactions on GSNAs, and where present measures are seen as inadequate, what improvements do they envision?

4.     What tools can be provided to academics and public audiences to empower individuals in the use of GSNAs for equitable use and to stop technology-facilitated violence through the apps?

These questions will be addressed through a qualitative, multiphase, multimethod research design guided by science and technology studies, intersectional digital feminism, and social justice frameworks.