‘Now you’re home’: Awareness cues, rejection and post-digital safety on mobile dating apps

Mobile dating apps (MDA) are popular for intimate encounters, but romantic rejection is common, and can drive surveillance using information from social media. Awareness cues convey digital information about others’ activities, but their link with rejection is underexplored. This study explores the uses of awareness cues in mobile dating applications (MDAs) in relation to rejection, social surveillance and post-digital safety. Using a 1-month diary study with eight participants of diverse gender and sexual identities, we identify a grammar of awareness cues that helps users interpret others’ intentions, manage relational uncertainty (e.g. ghosting) and navigate rejection. While awareness cues convey helpful information, they also expose users to social surveillance or even stalking. Since ‘incognito mode’ is a premium affordance on most MDAs, participants developed creative invisibility strategies to restrict access to social surveillance mechanisms.