A virtual ethnographic exploration of young men's and women's experiences and engagement with online dating platforms

Abstract

There has been an abundance of sociological research into online data in US academia, however the UK is lacking in such academic research. This study is a virtual ethnographic exploration of young men's and women's experiences and engagement with online dating platforms, and what effects if has on the gendered performance shared between men and women. The study involves 10 participants from different backgrounds taking part in an asynchronous online forum which lasted 3 weeks and had a total of 10 questions. The findings of the research suggests there is no research which synthesises the sociological understandings of love and romance with social constructions discourses on gender identities, and the implications of virtual online dating for the nature of the relationships between men and women in heterosexual romantic situations.