Social shaping of technology approaches ( Dutton, 1996 MacKenzie & Wajcman, 1985 Woolgar, 1996) acknowledge the ways in which information and communication technologies (ICTs) both shape and are shaped by social practices. In contrast to a technologically deterministic perspective that focuses on the characteristics of the technologies themselves, or a socially deterministic approach that privileges user behavior, this article reflects a social shaping perspective. This article focuses on the ways in which CMC interactants manage their online self-presentation and contributes to our knowledge of these processes by examining these issues in the naturalistic context of online dating, using qualitative data gathered from in-depth interviews with online dating participants. For instance, Social Information Processing (SIP) theory and other frameworks help illuminate computer-mediated communication (CMC), interpersonal communication, and impression management processes. Although scholars working in a variety of academic disciplines have studied these earlier forms of mediated matchmaking (e.g., Ahuvia & Adelman, 1992 Lynn & Bolig, 1985 Woll, 1986 Woll & Cosby, 1987), current Internet dating services are substantively different from these incarnations due to their larger user base and more sophisticated self-presentation options.Ĭontemporary theoretical perspectives allow us to advance our understanding of how the age-old process of mate-finding is transformed through online strategies and behaviors. Mediated matchmaking is certainly not a new phenomenon: Newspaper personal advertisements have existed since the mid-19th century ( Schaefer, 2003) and video dating was popular in the 1980s ( Woll & Cosby, 1987 Woll & Young, 1989).
Ubiquitous access to the Internet, the diminished social stigma associated with online dating, and the affordable cost of Internet matchmaking services contribute to the increasingly common perception that online dating is a viable, efficient way to meet dating or long-term relationship partners ( St.
In fact, the online personals category is one of the most lucrative forms of paid content on the web in the United States ( Egan, 2003) and the online dating market is expected to reach $642 million in 2008 ( Greenspan, 2003). In 2003, at least 29 million Americans (two out of five singles) used an online dating service ( Gershberg, 2004) in 2004, on average, there were 40 million unique visitors to online dating sites each month in the U.S. In recent years, the use of online dating or online personals services has evolved from a marginal to a mainstream social practice. Although previous research has explored relationship development and self-presentation online ( Bargh, McKenna, & Fitzsimons, 2002 McLaughlin, Osbourne, & Ellison, 1997 Parks & Floyd, 1996 Roberts & Parks, 1999 Utz, 2000), the online dating forum is qualitatively different from many other online settings due to the anticipation of face-to-face interaction inherent in this context ( Gibbs, Ellison, & Heino, 2006) and the fact that social practices are still nascent. Mixed-mode relationships, wherein people first meet online and then move offline, challenge established theories that focus on exclusively online relationships and provide opportunities for new theory development ( Walther & Parks, 2002). The online dating arena represents an opportunity to document changing cultural norms surrounding technology-mediated relationship formation and to gain insight into important aspects of online behavior, such as impression formation and self-presentation strategies.