"An Image of Ourselves in Our Minds": How College-educated Online Dating Users Construct Profiles for Effective Self Presentation

2025-02-17

AI Summary

This study investigates how highly educated young adults in China construct self-presentation on dating apps through profile photo selection, focusing on idealized identity construction and privacy trade-offs. Employing semi-structured in-depth interviews (N=20) and grounded theory coding, we identify three core strategies: idealized self-representation, de-identification of persona, and selective information concealment. Notably, we document— for the first time—users’ deliberate use of “non-self-presenting” images (e.g., silhouettes, partial-body shots, artistic renderings) to signify their “aspirational self,” proposing this as a novel paradigm of persona expression. The findings challenge the conventional authenticity–enhancement binary framework, offering platform designers actionable pathways to balance expressive autonomy with interpersonal credibility. This work makes original theoretical and practical contributions to the study of self-presentation in digital intimate relationships.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Preferences
• Search and Optimization: Non-convex Optimization

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User privacy protection in personalized systems
• Security and Privacy: Privacy-enhancing technologies
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: The sharing economy

Abstract

Online dating is frequently used by individuals looking for potential relationships and intimate connections. Central to dating apps is the creation and refinement of a dating profile, which represents the way individuals desire to present themselves to potential mates, while hiding information they do not care to share. To investigate the way frequent users of dating apps construct their online profiles and perceive the effectiveness of strategies taken in making profiles, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 experienced users who are Chinese college-educated young adults and uncovered the processes and rationales by which they make profiles for online dating, particularly in selecting images for inclusion. We found that participants used idealized photos that exaggerated their positive personality traits, sometimes traits that they do not possess but perceive others to desire, and sometimes even traits they wish they had possessed. Users also strategically used photos that show personality and habits without showing themselves, and often hid certain identifying information to reduce privacy risks. This analysis signals potential factors that are key in building online dating profiles, providing design implications for systems that limit the use of inaccurate information while still promoting self-expression in relationship platforms.

Problem

• Online dating profile construction
• Self-presentation strategies
• Privacy and identity management

Innovation

• Semi-structured interviews for data collection
• Idealized photos for positive traits
• Strategic photo use for privacy protection