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The Platformized Matchmaking Labor : What Do Prosumers Do in Dating Apps

Li, Ziyin and Wiehn, Tanja LU orcid (2026) In Lateral 2025(14.2).
Abstract
Across a wide range of cultural and socio-political contexts, matchmaking has been valued as a legitimate profession that involves labor and remuneration in cultures. It represents the long-lasting commercialization of effective intimacy building. In the era of algorithms and platforms,the emergence of modern matchmaking, such as in mobile dating apps (MDAs), showcases the impact of platformization and suggests that traditional matchmaking labor relations have shifted in MDAs and modern matchmaking approaches. Thus, with this paper, we ask in what ways contemporary dating practices essentially reinterpret the dated pattern of matchmaking in digital environments and shift its labor aspects. We aim to coin a new category of labor that... (More)
Across a wide range of cultural and socio-political contexts, matchmaking has been valued as a legitimate profession that involves labor and remuneration in cultures. It represents the long-lasting commercialization of effective intimacy building. In the era of algorithms and platforms,the emergence of modern matchmaking, such as in mobile dating apps (MDAs), showcases the impact of platformization and suggests that traditional matchmaking labor relations have shifted in MDAs and modern matchmaking approaches. Thus, with this paper, we ask in what ways contemporary dating practices essentially reinterpret the dated pattern of matchmaking in digital environments and shift its labor aspects. We aim to coin a new category of labor that includes the interplay of traditional cultural matchmaking practices in the concrete social-cultural context of China and the platformized infrastructures for dating. Through this, we surface new dynamics in digital labor and the commercialization of intimacy. Our research underlines the need to study intimate media’s role in its specific cultural contexts. (Less)
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publication status
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subject
in
Lateral
volume
2025
issue
14.2
ISSN
2469-4053
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c71c98de-78a5-43e9-8582-b18b113f1162
alternative location
https://csalateral.org/section/digital-platforms-agency/platformized-matchmaking-labor-prosumers-dating-apps-li-wiehn/
date added to LUP
2025-03-28 10:08:57
date last changed
2026-02-02 14:37:41
@article{c71c98de-78a5-43e9-8582-b18b113f1162,
  abstract     = {{Across a wide range of cultural and socio-political contexts, matchmaking has been valued as a legitimate profession that involves labor and remuneration in cultures. It represents the long-lasting commercialization of effective intimacy building. In the era of algorithms and platforms,the emergence of modern matchmaking, such as in mobile dating apps (MDAs), showcases the impact of platformization and suggests that traditional matchmaking labor relations have shifted in MDAs and modern matchmaking approaches. Thus, with this paper, we ask in what ways contemporary dating practices essentially reinterpret the dated pattern of matchmaking in digital environments and shift its labor aspects. We aim to coin a new category of labor that includes the interplay of traditional cultural matchmaking practices in the concrete social-cultural context of China and the platformized infrastructures for dating. Through this, we surface new dynamics in digital labor and the commercialization of intimacy. Our research underlines the need to study intimate media’s role in its specific cultural contexts.}},
  author       = {{Li, Ziyin and Wiehn, Tanja}},
  issn         = {{2469-4053}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{14.2}},
  series       = {{Lateral}},
  title        = {{The Platformized Matchmaking Labor : What Do Prosumers Do in Dating Apps}},
  url          = {{https://csalateral.org/section/digital-platforms-agency/platformized-matchmaking-labor-prosumers-dating-apps-li-wiehn/}},
  volume       = {{2025}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}