“Pete_29 is checking you out” : an exploratory study on women & online dating in Singapore

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of online dating in Singapore amongst female online daters. The rise of communication technologies in an increasingly networked and knowledge based society has immense potential to influence the nature of communication and how relationships are forged and sustained. Yet to date, there has been limited research by sociologists to describe and understand this dynamic. In this article, I present some of the key findings of the research on women and online dating in Singapore to gain sociological insights on their everyday realities, personal experiences and opinions, and strategies in processes of online dating. Based on an exploratory study through and in-depth interviews with 8 female users of Tinder and/or OkCupid, I found that at the heart of using online dating was a desire to form long-lasting relationships. But online relationships remained inadequate in terms of long- term viability and were eventually shifted offline. In processes of online dating, women constructed their single status as a problematic category to be transcended. Overall, this study aims to contribute knowledge around online dating and intimacy in the context of Singapore through a sociological framework.