Virginia – Swipe right. Swipe left. Also. and again. and again.
Hundreds of potential love partners are in your hands. At least that's what dating apps want their users to think, according to a new lawsuit filed in federal court on Valentine's Day.
The class action lawsuit alleges that popular dating apps Tinder, Hinge and The League, owned by parent company Match Group, are “designed to be addictive.” The complaint states that these apps are promoted as “effective tools for establishing relationships outside of the app, while doing everything in our power to acquire and retain paying subscribers and keep them within the app.” claims.
10 News spoke with Dr. James Ivory, a media studies professor at Virginia Tech. He said it's difficult to prove at what point social media and dating apps go from fun to addictive.
“Whenever we talk about addiction, we find that it's a really tricky term and there's a lot of disagreement about it,” Ivory said. “There's certainly no disputing that many social media apps are designed to get people to use more, to keep using it, and to reward them for doing so. Whether it's psychological or in a more tangible way. It's a little hard to tell if that qualifies as an escalation of behavioral addiction.”
The complaint goes on to say, “Match intentionally designed its platform with addictive game-like design features, trapping users in perpetual billing loops, and undermining marketing promises and customer relationships. “They are prioritizing corporate profits over relationship goals.”
Match released the following response:
“This lawsuit is ridiculous and has no merit. Our business model is not based on advertising or engagement metrics. I am working hard.”
Ivory said the lawsuit, if successful, could change the way people use dating apps. But he said it was difficult to predict the outcome.
“Obviously, the structure of social media is designed to keep people using social media for commercial reasons and other reasons,” Ivory said. “As long as there are applications that try to make money with advertising, they're going to try to get users to spend their time. I think this is here to stay. Depending on who you ask, Sometimes it's a big problem, sometimes it's not. But it's something we have to learn to live with and live a healthy life.”
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