On November 15th, the workshop took place in a hybrid format at the Interdisciplinary R&I Hub building, organized by CNSC. The session explored the perception and negotiation of gender representations and scripts among Italian dating app users. It also delved how interactions through dating apps change the way we deal with dating scripts.
Two main researches were presented. The first one, focused in heterosexual dating scripts, which have been more extensively studied. The presentation highlighted how Italian users are aware of traditional gendered dating scripts in the context of dating app and do not completely discard them, nor do they actively promote the adoption of alternative scripts. The second one was a work-in-progress research concentrating on Italian (self-identifying as) women dating women. By establishing an explicit “dating” frame for their users, dating apps appear inconsistent with the traditionally “friendship” script that was found as prevailing and preferred among women.
Francesca Comunello is a Full Professor in the Department of Communication and Social Research, Sapienza University of Rome. Her research and publications focus on the intersections between digital technology and society, including ageing and digital communication, gender and ICT, social media in risk communication.
Photo under Unsplash License