Hinge and Meikle's Three Ambivalences

     After researching the popular dating app Hinge, I felt that the app’s user experience exemplifies Meikle’s three ambivalences with social media. Meikle describes that his first ambivalence with social media is the empowerment that comes with using social media. Social media platforms such as Twitter are viewed as empowering as they give people the option of sharing their thoughts with millions of users. However, all forms of social media allow users to gain a sense of collaboration that is empowering (Gainous, & Wagner, 2014, pg.2). The anonymity of social media has allowed users to feel powerful enough to share their private thoughts with a public audience. Meikle’s second ambivalence discusses the digital surveillance of social media users. The companies that own social media platforms can manipulate their terms of service to allow for the surveillance of users. The data collected through this surveillance can be used to further manipulate users without them even realizing it. Hinge’s privacy policy states that their user surveillance helps them “develop and deliver targeted advertising on our services and websites or applications of third parties, and to analyze and report on advertising you see.” (Andrews, 2020). As a social media user, I think it is important to acknowledge the concept of surveillance that one experiences when using online platforms. If users read the privacy policy of every social media platform, many people would be uncomfortable with these corporations collecting their consumer data. The concept of privacy on social media is something users should think more about before logging on. Meikle’s final ambivalence with social media is related to the loss of user control. The surveillance that I previously mentioned is capable of manipulating users into becoming a product within an online landscape. 

Gainous, & Wagner, K. M. (2014). Tweeting to power : the social media revolution in American politics. Oxford University Press. 

            Andrews, F. (2020). Five reasons you should delete hinge. Vice. Retrieved December 17, 2021, from https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7vzbm/five-reasons-you-should-delete-hinge