Understanding the Role of Community in Online Dating

Online dating sites have become a common means of finding a romantic partner. And yet, these sites differ greatly from many other socially oriented websites: perhaps most notably, the pairwise style of interaction afforded by these sites prevents a robust online community from forming. Users, however, have taken matters into their own hands by creating thriving external forums for discussion of specific dating sites. We report on a multiple methods study of two online dating services, via observation and interviews with users of the forums associated with these sites. Our findings suggest that these forums play an essential role in creating an "outsourced community" for the dating sites, and also reveal practices around how some users "game the system" in online dating, the prevalence of harassment in online dating, and users' frustrations with current dating sites. We conclude with a number of recommendations for system design.