The perfect Tinder profile | Lecture

Swipe left or swipe right? The dating app Tinder has 50 million global users and 1.5 million users in the Netherlands. Tinder has been praised for revolutionizing the dating game and empowering women. It has also been accused of being a hook-up app, resulting in the breakup of relationships and an increase in sexually transmitted infections. Social media has exploded with Tumbler blogs like Girls of Tinder andTinder’s Finest Bachelors, where users are simultaneously mocked, shamed and praised for their choice of profile pictures or pickup lines. A Reddit community subgroup is dedicated to helping Tinder users tweak their profiles to increase matches.

Creating the perfect Tinder profile: How do Tinder users make decisions about which photos and text to include on their profiles? Do they fine-tune their profiles based on the response or non-response they get from other users? How does a Tinder profile differ between a user looking for a relationship and one seeking a one-night stand? Janelle Ward will give us an academic perspective on how Tinder users present themselves on the dating app. Drawing on her interviews with users in the Netherlands, she will present insights into profile creation and match selection: What are Tinder users’ motivations for using the app? How do Tinder users choose their profile photos and text? How do Tinder users choose their matches?

If you’re not a Tinder user this lecture is an opportunity to learn all about the hype from an entertaining yet academic perspective. If you are a user, you can see this lecture as a personal Tinder consultation: Janelle will help you understand your own profile choices and why you swipe left or right on other’s profiles (hint: it’s more than just sex appeal).

More info about the Special Dating Event:

Feeling brave? Please join us after the lecture for a very special dating event in the Paviljoen: We’ll pair you with a stranger and help you get to know each other the old fashioned way, using an innovative technique. You might even fall in love – others have!

Janelle Ward

Janelle Ward is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communication where she teaches courses for the International Bachelor Communication and Media (IBCoM) and the Master of Arts in Media Studies.

Janelle is interested how people create and manage impressions on social media. She is currently looking at Tinder, the dating app. She recently presented this research in Japan, Puerto Rico and Canada. During the 2015-2016 academic year she is teaching a research seminar on this topic called Interpersonal Relations Online.

Janelle’s past research has examined digital media in political contexts. She has written widely on how organizations use digital media to mobilize citizens, particularly youth. During her time in academia she has presented and published more than 40 academic papers. Her book, “Communicating Citizenship Online,” was published in July 2012.

To learn more about Janelle’s work, please visit her personal website.

See for more information

The Perfect Tinder Profile
Lecture & Event
Mon 14 sept | 19.30 – 22.00
Erasmus Paviljoen
Free entrance | Language: English

Register for the lecture and/or the dating event