IN THE LOCATION FOR LOVE:
LOCATION-BASED DATING IN THE SOCIAL ERA
by rose de fremery
As a thirtysomething woman living in New York, when thinking of dating to meet new people you would log I cannot help but recall an iconic image from Sex and the City: Carrie of questions about who you are and Bradshaw, typing her next column on what you were looking for, and then her laptop, wondering aloud when and sit back as an algorithm generated po- - there was once a stigma associated with Internet dating, it quickly fell by Its successor, HBO’s runaway hit dating sites looking for an easier way The twentysomething women of Girls navigate a world of raw, awkward vulnerability, often stumbling pain- Social networks, mobile technolo- fully along the way in their search for gy and location-based services have converged in an intriguing way that The technology featured in Girls mirrors the innovations we’ve adopted once primarily the province of college students, is now over nine hundred seen toting her chic rhinestone-stud- ded cell phone across the island of iPhone and Android are ubiquitous and tablets are coming into more frequent be sitting in front of a laptop in order to contracted a sexually transmitted disease from her lover, she tweets “The technology service enabling people to share out an enigmatic status their current location with friends update to her followers – featured in Girls mirrors by checking in to a venue, has “All adventurous women enjoyed increasing popular- do” – upon resolving to the innovations we’ve overcome her present Since then, location sharing has adopted in the past few become far more commonplace If the dating environ- years.” have enabled it from within their ment for television char- acters has changed, then your current whereabouts raises important concerns about safety and privacy, it also has positive
JULY/AUGUST 2012 / 29 - “Grindr beat out Foursquare to win the Crunchies award for Best Location Application of 2011.” - - - - - -
30 / THE SOCIAL MEDIA MONTHLY
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JULY/AUGUST 2012 / 31