Tinder, Virtual Social Media, Media Psychology, Effect of Media, Uses and Gratification, Operant Conditioning, Maslow's Hierarchy

1. Tinder : The Psychology behind Swiping
Natasha Gupta

2. 
Media Psychology
 Rutledge (2010) :
• Media technologies are everywhere
• People of all ages use media
technologies a lot.
• Young people use them the most
• Older people worry about younger
people
• Technology is not going away
• We all worry if this is good or bad or
somewhere in-between
• Psychology is the study of people of
all ages
 Using Psychology to answer if use of
media is good or bad or somewhere
in-between because media
technologies are everywhere and they
aren’t going away

3. 
Uses and Gratification
Research : The effect of Media
 Effect of media
portrayed in a variety
of studies
 U&G researchers look
at the motives for using
media and the needs
that media use gratifies.
 Study how and why
people use media in
general

4. 
Virtual Social Media
 Social media means to share text,
images, audio and video
information (Kotler & Keller,
2012).
 Virtual Social Media - virtual
community
 Social network of individuals
 Interact through specific social
media
 Crossing geographical and
political boundaries
 Pursue mutual interests or goals
 High on dimensions of social
presentation, media richness, self-
presentation and self-disclosure

5. 
Impact
 Social media - a place to
escape reality and create
your own perfect world.
 It is a world that can then be
broadcasted to thousands,
even millions, of people
across the globe.
 Communicating over social
media better than reality
 Serving as an escape from
reality.
 Finding solace
 Nomophobia

6. 
Tinder
 Dating application
 Sign up through Facebook,
 Limited to providing an individual’s age,
first name, photos, and a description.
 Identifies a user’s current location in
order to offer him/her potential
‘matches’ within the same geographical
region.
 For every potential match that shows up
on the screen, you have a simple
decision: swipe right (to ‘like’) or left (to
say ‘no thanks’)
 If two users mutually “like” each other,
they are connected through a chat
window, where they can now begin an
exchange.
 And if one person likes you and you
don’t, the person who didn’t like you
back doesn’t even know that you liked
him/her in the first place.

7. 
Operant Conditioning
 What is operant
conditioning?
 Positive reinforcement
 Schedules of
reinforcement
 Variable ratio
 Fueling the act of
swiping

8. 
Swiping out of Boredom
 Boredom
 Goal is to remove
discomfort
 Tinder to the rescue
while standing in a
queue
 Keep Playing !

9. 
Boosting Self-Esteem
 Matching provides Social Approval
and Validation
 Encourages future swiping
 “It started first as a rush of excitement
every time I was matched with
someone. I had low self-esteem a year
ago and enjoyed the confidence boost
of guys who I would think were out
of my league actually swiped yes. I
was flirty with my messages,
creatively constructed to make myself
seem like the most happy-go-lucky
girl out there. I felt the competition for
their attention. I knew these guys had
many more matches and were talking
to many other girls at the same time. I
always said it was like a kid in the
candy shop for them and you had a
week tops to gain their attention and
go on a date”

10. 
Hierarchy of Needs
 Tinder helping through
fulfilling needs-
 Physiological (Sex)
 Belongingness
(friendship, intimacy,
affection, love)
 India – sex as a taboo
 Tinder in terms of
friendship, matrimonial,
or serious long-term
relationships

11. 
Tinder as a means for
distraction
 Distraction as a coping
strategy
 Divert attention from a
stressor
 Towards thoughts or
behaviors that are
unrelated to the
stressor
 ‘Dealing with a break-
up’

12. 
Thank You !