Abstract
In November 2023, Grindr, the most popular dating app for men who have sex with men, announced its partnership with MPOWER (in Ireland) and the Equality Movement (in the country of Georgia) to allow app users to order free, postal HIV testing-kits through the app (Harrison-Quintana 2023). This is the latest example of a trend whereby dating apps are moving beyond offering matchmaking services to becoming significant players in public health, specifically in the sexual health arena. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, dating apps have experienced an unprecedented surge in usage: as many as 30% of adults in the US have used a dating apps (Duguay, Dietzel, and Myles 2022), and a recent survey by eHarmony projects that by 2040 up to 70% of relationships could commence online (Holtzhausen et al. 2020). In this evolving landscape, apps have been lauded as having the potential to serve as valuable tools in health promotion (Arnold 2023). However, the use of apps for these purposes can be problematic as it requires negotiating challenges to do with trust, risk and supporting users in digital settings.
Most dating apps are for-profit businesses, operating in an industry with vastly differing data compliance and confidentiality requirements to those used in medicine and health promotion. Thus, issues of privacy, issues of content moderation and user care must be considered when collaborating with them in health promotion. It is from this perspective that we develop a critically reflexive framework for analysing health partnerships with dating apps; one that considers the material, political and social conditions that underpin these collaborations. As dating apps increasingly become key partners in health promotion, particularly in the area of HIV and other STIs, it is imperative to question not only their effectiveness, but also the ethical challenges and potential pitfalls that may arise their use for this purpose.
Most dating apps are for-profit businesses, operating in an industry with vastly differing data compliance and confidentiality requirements to those used in medicine and health promotion. Thus, issues of privacy, issues of content moderation and user care must be considered when collaborating with them in health promotion. It is from this perspective that we develop a critically reflexive framework for analysing health partnerships with dating apps; one that considers the material, political and social conditions that underpin these collaborations. As dating apps increasingly become key partners in health promotion, particularly in the area of HIV and other STIs, it is imperative to question not only their effectiveness, but also the ethical challenges and potential pitfalls that may arise their use for this purpose.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Medical Humanities |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 15 May 2024 |
Keywords
- Dating apps
- Health promotion
- Public health
- Partnership
- Data protection
- Ethics
Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms
- Digital Futures
- Healthier Futures