TY - GEN
T1 - Identity, identification and identifiability
T2 - 16th ACM International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, MobileHCI 2014
AU - Birnholtz, Jeremy
AU - Fitzpatrick, Colin
AU - Handel, Mark
AU - Brubaker, Jed R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2014 ACM.
PY - 2014/9/23
Y1 - 2014/9/23
N2 - Location-aware mobile applications have become extremely common, with a recent wave of mobile dating applications that provide relatively sparse profiles to connect nearby individuals who may not know each other for immediate social or sexual encounters. These applications have become particularly popular among men who have sex with men (MSM) and raise a range of questions about self-presentation, visibility to others, and impression formation, as traditional geographic boundaries and social circles are crossed. In this paper we address two key questions around how people manage potentially stigmatized identities in using these apps and what types of information they use to self-present in the absence of a detailed profile or rich social cues. To do so, we draw on profile data observed in twelve locations on Grindr, a location-aware social application for MSM. Results suggest clear use of language to manage stigma associated with casual sex, and that users draw regularly on location information and other descriptive language to present concisely to others nearby.
AB - Location-aware mobile applications have become extremely common, with a recent wave of mobile dating applications that provide relatively sparse profiles to connect nearby individuals who may not know each other for immediate social or sexual encounters. These applications have become particularly popular among men who have sex with men (MSM) and raise a range of questions about self-presentation, visibility to others, and impression formation, as traditional geographic boundaries and social circles are crossed. In this paper we address two key questions around how people manage potentially stigmatized identities in using these apps and what types of information they use to self-present in the absence of a detailed profile or rich social cues. To do so, we draw on profile data observed in twelve locations on Grindr, a location-aware social application for MSM. Results suggest clear use of language to manage stigma associated with casual sex, and that users draw regularly on location information and other descriptive language to present concisely to others nearby.
KW - Impression formation
KW - MSM
KW - Online dating
KW - Self-presentation
KW - Sex
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908570862&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84908570862&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/2628363.2628406
DO - 10.1145/2628363.2628406
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84908570862
T3 - MobileHCI 2014 - Proceedings of the 16th ACM International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services
SP - 3
EP - 12
BT - MobileHCI 2014 - Proceedings of the 16th ACM International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services
PB - Association for Computing Machinery
Y2 - 23 September 2014 through 26 September 2014
ER -