“Tinder Humanitarians”: The Moral Panic Around Representations of Old Relationships in New Media

Abstract

According to the company website, Tinder is a mobile phone application for “friends, dates, relationships, and everything in between”. Cody Clarke, a writer and filmmaker, documents screenshots of photographs from the closed network of Tinder to publicly “out” users of the site who post photographs showing themselves in some “do-gooding” relationship that appears to take place in the South. Through the posting of a new photograph every day, the “Humanitarians of Tinder” Tumblr blog and Facebook page have generated a public discussion on the politics of representing suffering strangers in attempts to enhance the appeal of western image producers. This article will investigate the phenomenon of the Humanitarians of Tinder in order to understand its representations of North–South relations from the photographs themselves and from the debates held around them in new media and old. Critical development studies, media studies and sociology will provide an interdisciplinary theoretical framework to understand the moral panic that these Tinder humanitarians have created through posting private photographs of humanitarian performances to increase their personal desirability.

KEYWORDS:

• humanitarianism
• new media
• north-south relations
• Tinder
• Facebook
• moral panic

Notes

1. Accessed 16 May 2016. https://www.gotinder.com/

2. Eleanor Goldberg. “Humanitarians of Tinder Tumblr will Make You Want to Drop Yoga and Pick Up Digging Wells.” Accessed 13 May 2106. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/18/humanitarians-of-tinder_n_5174486.html

3. Emily Westmoreland. 24 August 2015. “An Open Letter to the Humanitarians of Tinder.” Accessed 16 May 2016. http://globalhobo.com.au/2015/08/24/an-open-letter-to-the-humanitarians-of-tinder/

4. Accessed 13 May 2016. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/to-the-humanitarians-of-tinder/284068/#article-comments

5. Liam Mathews. 24 February 2014. “Meet the Humanitarians of Tinder, Saving the world, One Dating Profile at a Time.” Accessed 14 May 2016. http://www.nerve.com/entertainment/meet-the-humanitarians-of-tinder-saving-the-world-one-dating-profile-at-a-time

6. From the Oxford Dictionary: “humanitarian (adjective): Concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare: groups sending humanitarian aid.” http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/humanitarian

7. Accessed 14 May 2016. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tinder-rallies-millions-of-its-users-to-swipe-the-vote-this-presidential-election-year-300239887.html

8. Accessed 13 May 2016. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-2e3f0042-75f6-4bd1-b4fe-9056540c65f8

9. Accessed 13 May 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36264101

10. Accessed 14 May 2016. http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/34082/

11. Accessed 14 May 2016. https://www.iabaustralia.com.au/creative-awards/case-studies/item/1656-tinder-takeover

12. Accessed 13 May 2016. http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2014/aug/06/how-amnesty-international-took-over-dating-app-tinder

13. Accessed 13 May 2016. http://www.campaignbrief.com/2014/04/circul8-wins-creative-showcase.html

14. Accessed 16 May 2016. https://www.gotinder.com/safety

15. Accessed 16 May 2016. https://www.gotinder.com/privacy

16. Online interview through the Humanitarians of Tinder Facebook page, 10 May 2016.

17. Online interview through the Humanitarians of Tinder Facebook page, 10 May 2016.

18. Online interview through the Humanitarians of Tinder Facebook page, 10 May 2016.

19. Accessed 16 August 2016. https://www.facebook.com/humanitariansoftinder/

20. Accessed 30 September 2016. https://www.facebook.com/humanitariansoftinder/photos/a.1424041704508244.1073741827.1424040381175043/1734261510152927/?type=3&theater

21. Accessed 31 August 2016. https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards

22. Accessed 24 October 2016. https://www.facebook.com/humanitariansoftinder/photos/a.1424041704508244.1073741827.1424040381175043/1758996451012766/?type=3&theater.

23. Post from 27 April 2016. Accessed 12 May 2016. https://www.facebook.com/humanitariansoftinder/

24. Kagure Mugo. 26 June 2015. “Humanitarians of Tinder.” Accessed 14 May 2016. http://thisisafrica.me/humanitarians-tinder/

25. Accessed 14 May 2016. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/

26. Online interview through the Humanitarians of Tinder Facebook page, 10 May 2016.

27. Online interview through the Humanitarians of Tinder Facebook page, 10 May 2016.

28. Online interview through the Humanitarians of Tinder Facebook page, 10 May 2016.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lisa Ann Richey

Lisa Ann Richey (corresponding author) is a Professor and Director of the Doctoral School in the Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark.