{"id":41644,"date":"2025-03-05T16:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T21:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=41644"},"modified":"2025-03-05T16:12:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T21:12:53","slug":"why-we-swipe","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/why-we-swipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Swipe"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin bu-blocks-block-editorial-leadin is-style-default has-media has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2000\" height=\"1124\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-636x357.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1024x575.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-992x558.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1500x844.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1984x1116.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1628x915.jpg 1628w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1600x900.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1366x768.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-854x480.jpg 854w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhy We Swipe\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">From social media to online dating to sexting, Kathryn Coduto researches why and how we use apps and the internet to connect with one another<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-categories\">\n\t\t\t<ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/com-365\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCOM\/365\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/media-science\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMedia Science\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">March 5, 2025<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/authors\/steve-holt\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSteve Holt\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div style=\"display:none;\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-inner js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t<h4>Share<\/h4>\n\t\t<p class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-title\">Why We Swipe<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-link\">\n\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" value=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/why-we-swipe\/\" readonly>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<label>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Copy URL:<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Copy<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">When dating apps like Tinder and Bumble were gaining popularity in the mid-2010s, Katy Coduto was not that impressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI always had a hard time taking them seriously,\u201d says Coduto, an assistant professor of media science who was working as a researcher for an advertising agency at the time. \u201cThere was an element of novelty, and it still felt kind of like a game.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coduto had played around with the apps but says she \u201cnever did anything serious with them.\u201d So when a friend downloaded the apps and started swiping nonstop in an effort to find a long-term partner, the researcher in Coduto was mesmerized. \u201cThere were times when I would watch him swipe or watch him try and figure out who he would be interested in,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI remember being so intrigued by how deep that thought process was. And I felt like I was watching someone learn this new technology, or apply things they knew about dating to a new technology. That\u2019s really where things started to click.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coduto wanted to study not only online dating, but how people are integrating technology into their lives more broadly as a way to connect with others\u2014sometimes compulsively. She\u2019s researched why people stream music rather than buy CDs, send sexually explicit texts and photos, and choose to look for in-person romantic relationships using dating apps. She\u2019s even studied people\u2019s use of social media during ongoing national news events\u2014such as a splashy crime investigation or the January 6 insurrection\u2014and dove into the world of Reddit support groups for families of QAnon conspiracy theorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll of this technology is just fascinating and changes how people behave,\u201d Coduto says. \u201cA lot of my work is looking into how people use it, and specifically if they\u2019re compulsive users. Whether it\u2019s online dating, or Twitter, TikTok\u2014I do think [these apps] have an element where they want you to stay on them. Most of my work in social media looks at what drives people to that ongoing, compulsive use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"480\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2025\/03\/com365-dating-apps-coduto-inset-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41672\"\/><figcaption>Coduto is interested in what leads to compulsive online behavior.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3>Social Media Sleuths<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When protesters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, many Americans turned to social media rather than traditional news sources for information. Coduto\u2014then on the faculty at South Dakota State University\u2014wanted to understand why. Within 48 hours, she and her research partner sent surveys to hundreds of college students to measure their engagement with social media during the riot. They discovered that the majority of students had turned to social media channels because they didn\u2019t trust traditional media for accurate and up-to-date information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s definitely been a shift in what people perceive as \u2018good information\u2019 or a valid source, which is scary,\u201d she says, because many skip over legacy media sources in favor of voices they deem to be closer to the event as it happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coduto and her colleague found that those who were checking social media compulsively during and just after January 6 were not doing so passively. They also posted their own thoughts and opinions about what was unfolding. Similarly, in a research paper that is under review, Coduto studied social media users who were compulsively following several crime investigations in 2023, including the murder of four University of Idaho students. Coduto spoke with social media users who did more than read about the cases; they also inserted themselves into the investigations by finding and commenting on the personal pages of both victims and alleged perpetrators. A number of these users told Coduto their obsession with following crime stories online was interfering with their jobs or schoolwork, affecting their mood, or leading them to feel like they needed to disconnect from social media. Coduto believes the true crime study may have implications for public policy\u2014particularly in response to the type of social media users in her study. \u201cDo we automatically make a victim\u2019s social media private?\u201d she offers. \u201cBecause once you start getting commenters flooding, whether they\u2019re offering support or crazy theories, it becomes a lot harder for law enforcement to utilize that digital trail that\u2019s been left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Digital Romance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Coduto happily admits that her favorite subject to research is all manner of online romance, from dating apps to sexting\u2014the sending of explicit content over a text messaging app. The opportunity to study online dating compelled her to get her PhD after all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\u2019s looked at online dating from several angles, including what happens when psychologically vulnerable people overuse the apps (it can increase anxiety, depression and loneliness) and frequency of pornography use among online daters (users seeking casual relationships view more of it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her most recent study, Coduto set out to define success in online dating. She asked 37 people a series of questions about their dating app use, then looked on while they swiped left and right, paying attention to what they appeared to be looking for in a partner. Generally speaking, online daters prefer to see lots of photos and longer descriptions in the profiles of potential matches, eventually use other messaging apps to communicate, and like to feel in control of the chats until trust is established. This can lead to some light hypocrisy at times: One woman Coduto observed kept declining matches with men whose bios were too short in her eyes\u2014despite not having an extensive bio herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-teal-background-left\"><p>One of the things with online dating\u2014and I think it\u2019s why I\u2019ve always been so interested in it\u2014is that it is ultimately a very personal, vulnerable activity that you\u2019re putting a lot of faith in technology to assist you with.<\/p><cite>Kathryn Coduto<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In speaking with online daters, Coduto began to hear from people\u2014mostly women\u2014saying that instead of getting date requests, they were being sent unsolicited explicit photos and messages. So Coduto set out to understand sexting, and what resulted was her first book, <em>Technology, Privacy, and Sexting: Mediated Sex<\/em> (Lexington, 2023). Before that, most of the academic work on sexting centered on the legal framework around the activity and tended to qualify sexting as a negative behavior. While Coduto has certainly observed negative examples of sexting\u2014a lack of consent between parties, notably\u2014she spoke with many people who\u2019ve found it beneficial. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of reason to think that sexting can actually be really good, especially for people who are in committed relationships,\u201d she says. \u201cFor some people, it\u2019s a way to express themselves or express desires that might feel initially uncomfortable in person. It\u2019s great for people in long-distance relationships, whether that\u2019s long-term or short-term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Coduto says she\u2019s observed an uptick in in-person modes of connection, like speed-dating and singles mixers, digital technologies promising to help people form connections in real life still saturate our culture. She\u2019s found that people use social media, including dating apps, compulsively in part because they can\u2019t stop thinking about them and what they might be missing out on or what they might see next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cThese platforms promise something new with every swipe or scroll,\u201d she says. \u201cIn a way, I understand it, because that\u2019s how I feel about my own research\u2014what\u2019s the next thing that will jumpout and surprise me?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When dating apps like Tinder and Bumble were gaining popularity in the mid-2010s, Katy Coduto was not that impressed. \u201cI&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24086,"featured_media":41670,"template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"categories":[1481,36],"tags":[1700,31],"bu-publication":[],"discipline-type":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/41644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24086"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/41644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41675,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/41644\/revisions\/41675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41644"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=41644"},{"taxonomy":"discipline-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/discipline-type?post=41644"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=41644"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=41644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}