Dietzel, C., & Matar, A. (2025). More than just a bad date: Navigating harms on LGBTQ+ dating apps.

Abstract:

This article introduces the concept of algorithmic burnout to explain why Gen Z is increasingly forgoing dating apps for in-person dating. It reframes the cultural narrative that dating apps offer a more efficient and safe avenue for meeting partners. Instead, dating apps serve as a site of systemic vulnerability where the promised efficiency of algorithmic matching often leads to sexual, emotional, and social harms, particularly for LGBTQ+ users. Drawing on the notion of a broken digital social contract, authors argue that the widespread violation of user safety by other individuals on these platforms forces marginalized communities to develop creative strategies for self-preservation. This prolonged exposure to harm reconstitutes users’ expectations of digital intimacy. Crucially, the rejection of these apps and the search for in-person connections is integral to a new pursuit of relational authenticity that also reimagines the past, present, and future of modern dating. Algorithmic burnout can be a useful theoretical tool for sociologists interested in digital culture, gender and sexuality studies, and the evolution of intimate relationships in the digital age.