Social and Personal Disclosure in a Location-Based Real Time Dating App

Users of location-based real time dating (LBRTD) apps must decide what to disclose in their profiles. Based on 25,365 profiles from one app, our study explores users whose profile photos disclose a face, a personal disclosure that identifies them as an individual, in relation to available social disclosures, those that do not identify them as an individual. Using logistic regression models with face disclosure as the outcome, we find: older users, and users who share race are less likely to disclose a face, and higher body mass index (BMI) users, users who disclose relationship status, and users who are seeking friends or relationships are more likely to disclose a face. We frame and discuss these results in relation to literature on location norms, body image, race relations, and social stigma, and propose future work to investigate these findings, particularly those of race, relationship status, and goals, in qualitative depth.

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