Dating i et digitalt rum: En postfænomenologisk undersøgelse af initiativ, selvfremstilling og relationel kontakt på Tinder
Oversat titel
Dating in a Digital Space: A postphenomenological study of initiative, self-presentation, and relational contact on Tinder
Forfatter
Semester
4. semester
Uddannelse
Udgivelsesår
2026
Afleveret
2026-01-04
Antal sider
79
Abstract
Dette speciale undersøger Tinder som en digital datingplatform med fokus på, hvordan brugere oplever og praktiserer selvfremstilling, kommunikation og relationel involvering i et teknologisk medieret miljø. Tinder udgør en udbredt og normaliseret ramme for initiering af tidlige relationer og fungerer som et mødested, hvor individuelle intentioner krydser sociale normer samt platformens teknologiske og kommercielle strukturer. På trods af denne normalisering er brugernes erfaringer med digital dating ofte præget af ambivalens, tøven og relationel usikkerhed. Specialet undersøger derfor, hvordan tilsyneladende hverdagslige datingpraksisser rummer analytisk betydning. Specialets overordnede formål er at skabe indsigt i, hvordan Tinder former brugernes relationelle praksisser i spændingsfeltet mellem sociale normer, digitale platformsvilkår og personlige intentioner. Med afsæt i et postfænomenologisk perspektiv forstås teknologi som medierende for menneskelig erfaring og social handling, og Tinder anskues ikke som en neutral ramme, men som en aktiv medskaber af de betingelser, hvorunder initiativ, selvfremstilling og relationel kontakt tillægges mening. Tinder konceptualiseres endvidere som et socioteknisk fænomen gennem IDEO-modellens perspektiver om desirability, feasibility og viability, hvilket belyser, hvordan menneskelige behov, teknologiske muligheder og forretningsmæssige incitamenter er indlejret i platformens design. Det teoretiske grundlag kombinerer postfænomenologi med Erving Goffmans dramaturgiske perspektiv og Iris Marion Youngs analyser af køn, kropslighed og situeret handlekraft. Metodisk anvender specialet et sekventielt mixed methods-design. En kvantitativ spørgeskemaundersøgelse (n = 155) identificerer overordnede mønstre i brugernes praksisser og erfaringer og danner grundlag for et kvalitativt interviewstudie bestående af seks semistrukturerede interviews. Analysen er fortolkende og iterativ og betragter både handling og ikke-handling som meningsfulde udtryk for relationel praksis. Analysen er struktureret omkring tre delanalyser med fokus på selvfremstilling, kommunikation og relationens status. Specialet viser, at Tinder ikke fungerer som en neutral ramme for dating, men som et socioteknisk miljø, der aktivt former, hvordan initiativ, autenticitet, gensidighed og forpligtelse opleves og forhandles. Relationelle praksisser er præget af foreløbighed, selektiv investering og affektiv risiko, idet brugerne løbende regulerer deres engagement i respons på usikkerhed og platformspecifikke betingelser. Relationel realitet etableres ikke gennem digital interaktion alene, men opleves primært som meningsfuld, når relationer forankres kropsligt og situationsbestemt – særligt i overgangen fra digital kontakt til fysisk møde. Med et postfænomenologisk afsæt bidrager specialet med indsigt i, hvordan teknologisk mediering og platformdesign medkonstituerer relationel erfaring og meningsdannelse i samtidens digitale datingpraksisser.
This thesis examines Tinder as a digital dating platform, focusing on how users experience and enact self-presentation, communication, and relational engagement within a technologically mediated environment. Tinder constitutes a widespread and normalized framework for the initiation of early-stage relationships and functions as a meeting space where individual intentions intersect with social norms as well as the platform’s technological and commercial structures. Despite this normalization, users’ experiences of digital dating are often characterized by ambivalence, hesitation, and relational uncertainty. The thesis therefore investigates how seemingly ordinary dating practices carry analytical significance. The overall aim is to generate insight into how Tinder shapes users’ relational practices within the tension between social norms, digital platform conditions, and personal intentions. Grounded in a postphenomenological perspective, technology is understood as mediating human experience and social action, and Tinder is approached not as a neutral setting but as an active co-constitutor of the conditions through which initiative, self-presentation, and relational contact acquire meaning. Tinder is further conceptualized as a sociotechnical phenomenon through the IDEO model’s perspectives of desirability, feasibility, and viability, illuminating how human needs, technological possibilities, and business incentives are embedded in the platform’s design. The theoretical framework combines postphenomenology with Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective and Iris Marion Young’s analyses of gender, embodiment, and situated agency. Methodologically, the thesis employs a sequential mixed methods design. A quantitative survey (n = 155) identifies overarching patterns in users’ practices and experiences, which informs a qualitative interview study consisting of six semi-structured interviews. Data analysis is interpretive and iterative, treating both action and non-action as meaningful expressions of relational practice. The analysis is structured around three sub-analyses addressing self-presentation, communication, and relational status. The thesis demonstrates that Tinder does not operate as a neutral framework for dating, but as a sociotechnical environment that actively shapes how initiative, authenticity, reciprocity, and commitment are experienced and negotiated. Relational practices are marked by provisionality, selective investment, and exposure to affective risk, as users continuously regulate engagement in response to uncertainty and platform-specific conditions. Relational reality is not established through digital interaction alone but is primarily experienced as meaningful when relations are bodily and situationally anchored, particularly in the transition from digital contact to physical encounter. From a postphenomenological perspective, the thesis contributes insight into how technological mediation and platform design co-constitute relational experience and meaning-making in contemporary digital dating practices.
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