Journal of sociology, Год журнала: 2025, Номер unknown

Опубликована: Янв. 15, 2025

This article examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dating app users’ experiences, revealing how it brought life politics to forefront. Through 53 in-depth interviews, investigates evolution apps feature, ‘I’m vaccinated’ badges, from symbols vaccination status indicators political attitudes. Users used badges for self-representation, seeking homophily and rejecting those with different attitudes towards vaccines. In this manner, instead bringing people together promoting vaccine apps, led rifts divisions among users. As pandemic's severity declined social restrictions were lifted, importance COVID-related in partner selection diminished. Interviewees expressed a desire move beyond politics, sentiment we termed ‘COVID bracketing’. Thus, study demonstrates intimate relationships can become politically charged during periods turbulence.

Язык: Английский