Project Proposal-on the way

TITLE: Tinder Aesthetics

An outcome of Tinder based on a collection by me

INTRODUCTION

For my graduation project I want to investigate how the dating-app Tinder mediates our self-presentation online (a based on sentence—> example: based on a personal observations/collection and in light of other platforms like dating sites). To investigate this question I want to start by investigating how Tinder is used by it users (interface), second who the users are (demographics), third how Tinder is perceived in a social- and cultural context and last I want to analyse the types of pictures that appear.

I chose Tinder because of it’s worldwide popularity and because I use it myself. For my research I use an older version of Tinder. Not integrated in my version of Tinder is the service of ‘Moments’ and the integration with Instagram.

Tinder offers us the possibility to connect to other people by uploading a series of personal photos (max. 6). A user is also free to ad a biography of maximum 500 characters, yet the focus of Tinder lies in the physical judgement of its users. How a person presents itself on Tinder is partially influenced by the outcomes he or she desires. Depending on that outcome it matters what kind of pictures a person upload on a dating platform like Tinder. The question that now arise is if we are free to upload whatever picture we want? At first hand I would say yes, because we are in control and decide consciously which pictures to upload and which ones not. I don’t think that somebody at first glance wants to show him or herself in a unflattering position. There is not somebody (or something) telling us to upload a specific picture in favour of another picture. So from this point of view we are safe and in control.

From another perspective we can argue that a platforms like Tinder are dictating us in the way we present ourselves. According to OKcupid, a dating website originated in 2004, who analyzed the images of their users on success-rate and outcome, certain pictures lead to better results. So a potential user of Tinder who heard about this research can benefit in setting up his or her profile. This doesn’t apply to me. When I think of how I started using Tinder for personal interests, I did heard about OKCupid prior, but not about OkCupid’s data analyses.

In what other ways are potential users of platforms like Tinder influenced by those platforms themselves? The answers lies in the way those platforms present themselves and how we see them in context of the society we live in. When we look at dating-apps there are a few things that define them. The first observation is the simple interface. As said before Tinder is focused on physical judgement. To judge someone we swipe, which is either a movement from left to right or right to left. A swipe right indicates a like, a swipe left indicates a dislike of the person seen. Swiping is a fun activity and gives Tinder and related apps the feeling of playing a game (gamification). The second observation is that Tinder provides instant gratification. You judge the person you see and if that person liked you before you get immediately a notification. Reversely, when that person haven’t judged you before you did him or her, it doesn’t take long that person will. So when you use Tinder you get the feeling that you can win something. It fulfills you with pleasure when you see that the other person liked you too. I believe that the level of gamification and instant gratification plays a role in how we present ourselves on dating sites and dating-apps.

The research I conduct on Tinder will hopefully lead to a series of work. Past year I presented the first work-based prototypes. To define these works (better) a careful analyses in light of the way Tinder works and is used of my collection of screenshots (dataset) is required in light of Tinder’s usage and perception (how it is percieved by users and why).

RELATION TO PREVIOUS PRACTICE

Working on or around online platforms, collecting data and making collections comes back in several other works I made or are working on.

TE KOOP:

In my project TE KOOP I infiltrate online commodity markets e.g. Craigslist and Marktplaats. In TE KOOP I make photos of a furnitures or bikes in household settings. Each photo combined with a short description is turned in an advertisement and posted on several commodity markets around the world. The advertisements function as bait and elicit responses. Most responses are about the items offered. I answer the questions raised and try to start conversations with the respondents. In 95% of the cases the conversations stays around the product I seemingly offer. In some cases the conversations transform into an almost friendly conversation.

In TE KOOP both the photos and conversations are equally important, the photos of the items don’t exist without the online content generated and visa versa. The conversations differ in length and content, but are treated equally. They are all significant.

UNBOXING:

In a recent project I changed the rol I play on commodity markets. Instead of pretending to be a seller, I became the buyer. In UNBOXING I look for stamp books of any particular kind. So far it was never really about the content of the stamp books, what mattered was the color of the cover of the book. This because I asked the seller to execute an action before shipping took place. When the price was agreed I asked the seller not to pack the book in a conventional envelop or box and send it, rather I asked and insisted that the book will be packed according to a set of rules I created. First I asked them to enclose the top, bottom and side of the book that could fall open during shipping. Second, I asked the seller to write my name and postal address on the cover of the book. Last, I asked the seller to place the postal stamps alongside the address. When I receive the package I create a setting and film with two cameras positioned from different angles the act of unboxing. In the edit I interchange the image.

Also part of UNBOXING are the e-mail conversations with the sellers. What differs from TE KOOP is that in UNBOXING the conversations are subordinate to the videos created. Next to the video, I create a copy of the original stamp book. But instead of having the same content, that of stamps, I create a book in which the content is my e-mail conversation with the seller and documentation in the form of photos of the original stamp book.

Nr. 39 with Rice:

In Nr. 39 with Rice I comment on an event that occurred during an episode of Holland Got Talent in 2013. Chinese contestant Xiao Wang is asked by Dutch jury member Gordon if he is going to sing Nr. 39 with Rice. This sentence became the start for the project. Nr. 39 with Rice consists of a collection of photos of Nr. 39 dishes from Chinese restaurants, Mukbang-like video’s and interviews with chefs and restaurant owners. The original footage of the event of Holland Got Talent as of many other videos directly commenting the event are part of the project.

Rejected:

A few years ago I came across a collection of school photos from my former elementary school. The collection is interesting because it hosts two types of pictures from the same person. Half of the collection exist of pictures marked with a (black) pen, the other half lacks the mark. The mark is an identification tool applied by the photographer to pictures which are in his opinion wrong. The pictures origin from a time when digital photography was non-existing. When a pictures was made the photographer had no chance to see the picture back on a screen like we do now. Back then the photographer had to decide on the spot if a picture was good or not. Only after the film was developed the photographer could see if his decision was correct. To distinguish the two photos from each other he marked the one which was in his opinion wrong.

The collection consist over 200 pictures. The collection is ordered to the direction and length and thickness of the mark and turned into a book. Pictures at the beginning of the book are longer and thicker in length towards pictures at the end of the book. To add a personal note to the collection I included my personal elementary pictures found in the collection. Unfortunately they lack the mark by a pen, yet I used my own pictures to indicate the end and start of a new chapter.

RELATION TO A LARGER CONTEXT

More and more is technology integrating in our lives and bodies. Those technologies when they take things out of our hands (how to say this?) frees us to give attention to other things. The human is removed and replaced; the object is given independence. It mimics a human function or it is emulating a human behavior (Befurt on Lonely Sculpture). The integration of technologies with our lives and bodies, changes our behavior and sense of reality (or belonging?). In light of dating-apps it is not about identity, it is about judgment. The screens that gives access to entertainment media mediate our experience and extend our personalities into multiple realities (Befurt).

Works by others that are based on dating platforms are: Wanna Play? (2014) - Dries Verhoeven Tinder In (2015) - Dries Depoorter Tender (2014) - Cors Brinkman, Jeroen van Oorschot, Marcello Maureira & Matei Szabo Lonely Sculpture (2014) - Tully Arnot Tinder-O-Matic (2014) - Andrew Sink (review: http://3dprint.com/14224/3d-print-robotic-finger-tinder/) Tinder as a dog (?) - Joe Veix Ijoinedtinderasahorse.com Face to Facebook (?) - Paolo Cirio & Alessandro Ludovico Versions - Oliver Laric

Blogs on Tinder that appeared: www.tigersoftinder.com www.lionsandtigersandlove.tumblr.com www.guysholdingfishontinder.tumblr.com www.tinderguyswithtigers.tumblr.com www.humanitariansoftinder.com

THESIS INTENTION

The focus on the thesis lies on the description of how dating-apps function, how we perceive and use them and how they mediate our behavior. How do we use these technologies and how do they change our perception of self, distance and reality.

PRACTICAL STEPS

Last year when I started to use Tinder myself,I noticed certain patterns in the images that appeared to me. I started to collect these pattern and organized them in collections. The total collection encompasses(?) now about 7000 images. For the coming weeks I want to investigate what these images are and mean socially, culturally and demographically. When the analyses are done, content can be made and explained.