The digitalized economy of bodies in gay dating apps

Abstract

Assuming that contemporaneity has brought about numerous continuities and discontinuities, it is undeniable that technology is increasingly omnipresent, even mediating social relationships. In this paper, discuss how dating applications (apps) further enhance the existing economy of bodies through technological mediation. This economy is based on a device incorporated by the apps that incorporates a mercantile structure to facilitate interactions. Data obtained from two investigations conducted among users of gay dating apps in Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza cities through approximations and cross-referencing suggest that an economic context is institutionalized, in which interactions operate on a market-based system, ratifying and sometimes challenging concepts such as scarcity, price, supply, demand etc. The non-material condition accelerates interactions, making the use of algorithms and defined scripts a predictable element of negotiation between users who need to be clear and direct in order to get what they want. The main findings suggest that gay dating apps mediate users who take a calculating perspective on searches to maintain some form of interaction with those they desire, a process that reflects a market dynamic.