Can Dating App Cultures Support Emotional Health and Well-being in Future Pandemics?

Drawing on survey and interview data from a UK-based study of heterosexual and LGBT+ people’s dating app use before, during and after the COVID-19 crisis, this paper explores the resources that such apps provided for supporting emotional health during the pandemic and the possibilities they offer for promoting well-being in future pandemics. The research adopted a mixed method approach and was unique in its engagement with gender and sexual diversity. Data collection was undertaken between January and November 2023. This paper examines how COVID-19 could be experienced as a personal moment of crisis that had implications for loneliness and diminished emotional health and well-being; how dating apps provided access to resources for supporting emotional health and well-being in the form of dialogical and ‘friend-like’ intimate and social connections; and how the availability of such resources declined after the COVID-19 crisis. Our analysis suggests that while dating apps could mitigate loneliness and provide support for emotional health during pandemic-related lockdowns and social distancing, access to these benefits was uneven across gendered cultures of sexuality. The paper concludes by considering key issues in harnessing and equalising the opportunities that dating apps provide for supporting emotional health and well-being in future pandemics.