Safety, Risk and Wellbeing on Dating Apps: Final Report December 2019 Prof. Kath Albury Prof. Kane Race Tim Wark Dr. Paul Byron The University of Sydney ACON Health A/Prof. Anthony McCosker Tinonee Pym Doreen Salon Dr. Jessica Botfield Jarrod Walshe Family Planning NSW Family Planning NSW Swinburne University of Technology Daniel Reeders Christopher Dietzel DNM Consulting / Swinburne McGill University / Swinburne University of Technology University of Technology Safety, Risk and Wellbeing on Dating Apps: Final Report is an output from the Australian Research Council Linkage Project ‘Safety, Risk and Wellbeing on Digital Dating Apps’ (LP160101687) For inquiries, contact the Lead Chief Investigator Professor Kath Albury [email protected] This report is released subject to a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license (License). This means, in summary, that you may reproduce, transmit and distribute the text, provided that you do not do so for commercial purposes, and provided that you attribute the extracted to the authors of this report: Safety, Risk and Wellbeing on Dating Apps: Final Report. You must not alter, transform or build upon the text in this publication. Your rights under the License are in addition to any fair dealing rights which you have under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). For further terms of the License, please see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ © Swinburne University of Technology, 2019 Report layout and logo design: Stephanie Luk, Hannah Bacon and Anh Huynh. We pay respects to the traditional custodians of all the lands on which we work, and acknowledge their Elders, past, present and emerging. ISBN: 978-1-925761-18-4 DOI: 10.25916/5dd324c1b33bb Recommended citation: Albury, K, Byron, P, McCosker, A, Pym, T, Walshe, J, Race, K, Salon, D, Reeders, D, Wark, T, Botfield, J & Dietzel, C 2019, Safety, Risk and Wellbeing on Dating Apps: Final Report, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms 4 Acknowledgements 4 Foreword: Partner Organisations 5 Glossary: Apps and Platforms 6 Executive Summary 7 Introduction 9 Background and Research Approach 10 Research on Dating Apps and Sexual Health 13 Findings 15 1. Using Apps and Connecting through Social Media 15 1.1 App Use 15 1.2 Installing and Deleting Apps 15 1.3 Linking Dating/Hook-Up Apps with Other Social Media Accounts 15 2. Negotiating Safety 18 2.1 Strategies for Assessing Profiles 18 2.2 Establishing Safety through Chat 18 2.3 Meeting Up and Hooking Up Safely 19 2.4 Experiences of Discrimination and Harassment 20 3. Mental Health and Wellbeing 23 3.1 Finding Friendship, Making Connection and Feeling Confident 23 3.2 Managing Feelings of Rejection 24 3.3 Taking Breaks, Deleting Apps and Turning Off Notifications 25 4. Sexual Health 27 4.1 Approaches to Safe Sex Differed According to Sex, Gender and Sexuality 27 4.2 Negotiating Consent 28 4.3 Sexual Behaviours and Testing for STIs 28 4.4 Survey Respondents Accounts of Safe Sex and Contraception 30 4.5 Finding Sexual Health Information through Apps 30 Discussion / Conclusions 32 Recommendations 34 Appendices 35 Appendix 1: Reference Group Overview 35 Appendix 2: Workshop Outline 36 Appendix 3: Qualitative Demographics 37 Appendix 4: Research Literature on Dating Apps and Sexual Health 38 Appendix 5: Dating and Hook-Up App Use 44 Appendix 6: Perceptions of Top Three Apps 45 References 46 ACRONYMS ACON: ACON Health, formerly known as the MSM: Men who have sex with men (commonly AIDS Council of NSW used in sexual health research) BDSM: Bondage, domination, submission and NSW: New South Wales masochism, also commonly referred to as 'kink' STI/HIV: Sexually transmissible infections / CALD: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Human Immunodeficiency virus LGBTQ+: A commonly-used acronym for PrEP: Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (an oral drug Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer used to prevent the transmission of HIV) people that is not limited to these identities but can include Pansexual, Asexual, Questioning, and a range of other identity groups beyond a cisgender and heterosexual identity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful for the support and assistance • Bec Neufeld, Nepean Blue Mountains of staff and volunteers at our Partner Local Health District organisations, particularly Jane Estoesta and • Jessica Wilms, Nepean Blue Mountains Rob Hardy (Family Planning NSW) and Brent Local Health District Mackie, Brandon Leith-Bear, Félix Delhomme and Caitlin Bainbridge (ACON Health). Special App user reference group participants (as they thanks to all the app users who took part in our wish to be named): research. • Dominic • Eleni Gabrielides Professional reference group: • Andrew Horne • Paula Convery, Health Promotion • Elissa James Coordinator, University of Newcastle • Heather Kate • Andrew Cummings, Andrew Cummings • Hannah Kelly Training & Consultancy • Salvin Kumar • Erin Donnelly, Family Planning NSW • Noel Lam • Will Doran, The Centre @ Kurri Kurri • Zoe Lewis • Marty Janssen, Ministry of Health • Natalie Veper (NSW STI Programs Unit) • Katy Wedderburn • Bronwyn Leece, Nepean Blue • Annie Wylie Mountains Local Health District • Haojun Zhang • Angus Megarrity, Youth Action NSW • Tanya Montoya, Family Planning NSW • Thomas Munro, Sydney Sexual Health Centre Safety, Risk and Wellbeing on Dating Apps: Final Report 4 FOREWORD: PARTNER ORGANISATIONS Family Planning NSW has been involved in this ACON is NSW’s leading health organisation project in a partner investigator capacity over specialising in community health, inclusion and the past two years. It has already provoked HIV responses for people of diverse sexualities internal conversations about updating our key and genders. Established in 1985, ACON works messaging around digital technologies and to create opportunities for people in our healthy relationships with plans to write new communities to live their healthiest lives. ACON community education sessions and resources. has been a partner investigator in this important study for the past two years. We value this involvement because it allows us to translate research findings immediately into The study provides key insight and evidence for evidence-based health promotion programs how people of diverse genders and sexualities that are relevant to young people. Existing understand and engage with dating app healthy relationships education programs for cultures. The outcomes of this study are young people in schools and the community extremely valuable for ACON’s work, as this will be enhanced with the addition of evidence- study provides a deeper understanding of how based key messages around the use of dating people in our communities use hookup apps apps alongside other digital technologies topics and social media in their everyday lives in such as sexting, pornography and social media. relation to friendship, building relationships and engaging in sex and sexual intimacy. Our existing relationships resource for young people You&Me=Us will be updated with the These outcomes will be used to better inform second edition including new and and tailor our health promotion campaigns, contemporary strategies relating to the use of resource development, prevention health dating apps. These new findings also open the programs and services. In particular, the possibility for innovative digital health findings on how people in our communities promotion programs such as social media negotiate app safety have sparked internal campaigns and in-platform messaging that discussions around incorporating the findings promote the health, wellbeing and safety of into our workshops targeting young people, HIV dating app users. and STI prevention campaigns, online resources and a broad range of other programs and Rob Hardy, Manager Health Promotion, services. Family Planning NSW Brent Mackie, Associate Director Policy, Strategy and Research, ACON Safety, Risk and Wellbeing on Dating Apps: Final Report 5 GLOSSARY: APPS AND PLATFORMS Bumble is a dating and social networking app, Hornet is a dating app marketed as a ‘gay social primarily targeting straight and bisexual users. network’ for gay/bi/queer men. It includes Bumble offers connections for dating, functions which are more commonly associated friendship, and professional networking, but is with social media platforms, such as following primarily used for dating. It is promoted as a other users and posting ‘stories’. ‘safer’ dating app for women, as only women can initiate chat. Instagram is a picture and video-sharing social networking platform owned by Facebook. Facebook is a commonly used social Many dating app users choose to link their networking service, which allows users to Instagram account to their dating app profile. create profiles, ‘friend’ and follow other users, share pictures and join public, private or secret Jack’d is a location based dating app which bills (unsearchable) interest groups or forums, and itself as ‘the most diverse community for gay, chat via the Messenger application. Until bi, trans and queer guys around the globe.’ recently, a range of dating apps (including Tinder and Bumble) required users to sign up OKCupid is a dating app that invites users to via their Facebook account as a form of identity populate a detailed profile and answer a series verification (and data linkage). of questions that generate algorithmic matches. Due to the flexibility of its profile FetLife is a social networking website that format, it is popular with users seeking non- serves people interested in BDSM, fetishism, normative dating and/or sexual arrangements. and kink. While the site has personals forums, it is primarily used for chat, event promotion and Only Women is a geolocative dating app for picture and video sharing. lesbian and bisexual women. Grindr is a dating app used mostly by gay men. Plenty of Fish is a dating app that allows users The app makes geographically proximate users to populate a profile and answer questions. visible to each other via a grid. It is the most common app used by gay/bi/queer men in RedHotPie is an Australian dating and hook-up Australia. Grindr now offers a range of gender, app most commonly used for ‘alternative’ sexuality and pronoun options.