Computers, Privacy & the Constitution

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JustinFlaumenhaftFirstPaper 7 - 07 May 2022 - Main.JustinFlaumenhaft
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The Indignity of Online Dating Apps

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The way that dating apps engage users is particularly dehumanizing. The typical app has users swipe through a catalogue of thousands of other humans. Every profile is an advertisement of sorts. Users are not only the products, but are also in charge of selling themselves. Moreover, the user interface is often deliberately made to feel like a game and keep you swiping. The purpose of all this is not to help users find love, but to keep them playing the game as long as it is profitable for the company. This set up encourages users to treat others without dignity: to view dating as online shopping and fellow daters as replaceable commodities.
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The way that dating apps engage users is particularly dehumanizing. The typical app has users swipe through a catalogue of thousands of other humans. Every profile is an advertisement of sorts. Users are not only the products, but also are tasked with selling themselves. Moreover, the user interface is often deliberately made to feel like a game and keep users swiping. The purpose of all this is not to help users find love, but to keep them playing the game as long as it is profitable for the company. This set up encourages users to treat others without dignity: to view dating as online shopping and fellow daters as replaceable commodities.
 And yet, millions of people (including nearly 50% of young adults in the US!) opt into this dystopian marketplace. They share their most intimate secrets while the dating apps take notes behind the one-way mirrors of smartphones. Why does anyone stand for this, let alone voluntarily participate in it? Part of the answer, probably, involves “convenience.” Dating apps make meeting people as easy as food delivery apps make dining: users are provided with a streamlined catalogue of options made more or less instantly available.

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