International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Digital Dating Culture and Shifting Intimacy Norms Among Youth

In recent years, digital dating platforms have emerged as significant social arenas through which youth negotiate intimacy, desire, and companionship. This study examines how digital dating culture shapes, disrupts, and reconfigures contemporary intimacy norms among young people aged 18–30. Using a qualitative, exploratory research design, the study draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 30 active users of dating applications, supplemented by digital ethnographic observations. The analysis, guided by thematic coding, reveals that digital dating enables new forms of “fast intimacy,” emotional experimentation, and self-presentation, while simultaneously generating heightened anxieties around trust, authenticity, and relational stability. Young users strategically navigate between traditional cultural expectations, such as long-term commitment, familial approval, and moral surveillance, and the fluid, flexible relationship structures promoted by digital platforms. The findings highlight emerging relationship categories such as “situationships,” casual companionships, and emotionally charged but non-committal bonds. Gendered negotiations of safety, consent, emotional labor, and power also play a central role in shaping digital romantic practices. Overall, the study argues that digital dating culture is not merely transforming how youth meet partners, but is fundamentally reshaping intimacy norms, emotional expectations, and the moral landscape of youth relationships. The paper contributes to sociological debates on late-modern intimacy, digital youth culture, and the evolving social meanings of love, trust, and commitment.