Conference Agenda

What does it mean to be ‘safe’ on dating and hook-up apps? As apps have become common channels for meeting and connecting with romantic and sexual partners, they have also become focal points in discussions of power (Young & Roberts 2023), the commodification of intimacy (Bandinelli & Alessandro 2022), racism (Carlson 2019), and safety (Albury et al. 2020; Albury & Byron 2016) where platforms are increasingly called upon to take more responsibility. In 2024, the Australian government released an industry code to ‘improve safety’ for users on these platforms, calling for better systems to detect and act in response to incidents of harm including reporting mechanisms, support resources, transparency reports, and engagement with law enforcement. In this paper we explore a diverse range of experiences and perceptions of safety and control functions on dating and hook-up apps, drawing from focus groups and interviews with 104 people in Australia alongside a mapping of the safety and control features on three apps: Tinder, Bumble, and Grindr. Our participants varied in terms of gender (67% female, 30% male, 3% non-binary), age (13-74), sexuality (54% straight, 24% LGBTQ, 22% unsure or unspecified), cultural background, and socio-economics. In our analysis we explore gaps in awareness of app functionality, perceptions of the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of safety controls, and the ideas users had to make apps safer for them. We seek to connect public concerns around safety with a critique of narrow, heteronormative, individualised, and institutional framings of the notion of safety.

This study examines the role of online dating in the formation of migrant-native couples in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Montevideo (Uruguay). While mate selection is typically assortative, online dating has expanded opportunities to meet diverse partners, potentially reducing endogamy. Prior research has largely focused on developed economies, leaving a gap in understanding online dating’s impact on migrant-native pairings in Latin America.

Using data from the second round of the Generations and Gender Surveys (GGS, 2020–2022), we analyze how the venue of first meeting influences the likelihood of forming national-foreigner couples. Guided by search theory and the structural assimilation hypothesis, we estimate two binary logistic regression models: one assessing migrants’ likelihood of using online venues for partner selection and another evaluating online dating’s impact on the probability of forming a migrant-native couple.

Results indicate that migrants are not significantly more likely than natives to use online dating for stable relationships. However, couples comprising one native and one migrant partner are statistically more likely to have met online rather than offline. This association remains significant after controlling for socioeconomic factors. Additionally, years since migration positively predict migrant-native unions, supporting the assimilation hypothesis.

Findings highlight the role of online dating in diversifying romantic pairings beyond traditional social networks. This study contributes to literature on online dating and assortative mating by expanding previous findings to new cultural settings and considering nationality as a key factor in partner selection.

This paper proposes a feminist care framework for understanding digital parenting, i.e., how parents utilize digital media in child-rearing, emphasizing the entanglement of interpersonal and institutional practices. Using Denmark as a case study, this paper contends that a focus on voluntary practices overlooks the influential role that corporations and state institutions play in shaping the need for digital parenting. Instead, it advocates for a relational approach that addresses the interconnected dynamics of care and responsibility in the digital age. Interviews with parents living in Denmark highlight digital parenting’s dual nature as both enabling and coercive, as well as intimate and public. The paper concludes by calling for collective efforts to develop supportive digital infrastructures.

Short video platforms are reshaping health communication, yet how healthcare professionals use them to present their expertise in a digital space governed by both entertainment-driven engagement metrics and regulatory constraints remains understudied. This study examines how verified healthcare professionals use Douyin, China's leading short video platform, to engage in health communication. Through content analysis of 130 highly engaged videos and 58 professionals' homepages, this study investigates the characteristics of the healthcare professionals on Douyin, how they present themselves, and what strategies they use to balance medical credibility with Douyin's entertainment-driven nature.