Research report on Tinder

1. Tinder & the “Hook up” culture
Research Project by:
Hannah Carlson

2. Background
• Launched in August 2012
• Uses geo-location technology to match people
within a given distance
• Piloted on college campuses (USC)
– Attracted younger user base
• Reinforced “hook up” culture on college
campuses
• Recently, has progressed to an app in which
people are finding significant others

3. Research Objective
To find out how this technology alters initial
romantic interaction and the accuracy of users’
profiles/portrayals of themselves

4. Method
• Mixed methods structure
– Qualitative & Quantitative data
• 3 people to set up Tinder accounts & monitor
their use (qualitative) over a 3 week period
– Set radius for 5 miles
– Can only be reached out to
– Make conversation without the intention of meeting
up if they like the initial interaction
• Survey: 25 responses minimum (quantitative)
• Interviews (qualitative)
– One who uses the app for “hook up” purposes
– One who has found relationship success

5. Ethical Issues
• Subjects are friends
– Give them aliases when discussing in research
• Dealing with real people
– Subjects cannot “lead people on” or give them
false hope
– Avoid emotional attachment and hurting people’s
feelings

6. Survey Questions
• How long have you used Tinder for?
• How often do you use Tinder?
• What are your intentions while using Tinder?
• What do you look for in a Tinder profile?
• Is your Tinder profile strategically made?
• Have you ever met up with someone off of Tinder?
• If so, did you find their profile to be accurate or
inaccurate?
• How do you initially interact with someone on Tinder?
• Have you or anyone you know started a relationship
from Tinder?

7. Survey results
• Participants range from 18-25
• Average use is 1 year
• 60% use the app for Entertainment
• 58% strategically make their profile
• 46% have met up with someone off the app
• Of this 46%, 93% find their profile to be
accurate
• 76% know someone who has started a
relationship from Tinder

8. Examples of Initial Interaction
• Subject 1 (Female):
– “Hey cutieeee”
– “Hey don’t I know you from somewhere”
– “Hey how is your week going?”
– “Hey! What’s up?”
– “Seeeex now :)))”
– “Hey beautiful”
– “Hey girl. Are you a Prius cause you’re not giving
me any signs that you’re turned on.”

9. Continued
• Subject 2 (Female):
– “What’s the difference between me and my
couch?”
– “Future hubby here. Figured we should get to
know each other before the big day!”
– “Knock knock”
– “Hi _____, how’s the tinder scene been treating
you? Probably getting some real gem messages”
– “Hey lady how are you?”
– “Did we just find love in a hopeless place?”

11. Conclusions
• Overall, people want to represent themselves as
best they can while still remaining accurate to their
true selves
– To ensure they are who they say they are before
meeting up, users often add each other on other social
media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, etc.)
– Some discrepancies
• Drastically changes initial romantic interaction due
to its cyber nature
– Interacting on screen is different than in person
– Confidence factor
– Men tend to be more forward than women