The impacts of media richness, blurriness, and beautification of online dating profile visual elements on dating outcomes
IntroductionOnline dating is a popular way for individuals to connect today, and the visual elements of an online dating profile have become an essential part of online dating. The current study examined how media richness, visual blurriness, and beautification of an online dating profile’s visual e...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Communication |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1572179/full |
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| author | Minhao Dai Shilin Xia |
| author_facet | Minhao Dai Shilin Xia |
| author_sort | Minhao Dai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionOnline dating is a popular way for individuals to connect today, and the visual elements of an online dating profile have become an essential part of online dating. The current study examined how media richness, visual blurriness, and beautification of an online dating profile’s visual elements would influence online dating outcomes.MethodsWe conducted an online dating experiment with 10 different conditions with younger adults between 18 and 35 (n = 389).ResultsThe results showed that the richer visual elements and the beautified selfie in an online dating profile predicted a number of dating outcomes, including stronger perceived positive traits, more favorable profile assessments, and stronger dating intentions. Moreover, we found such impacts to be gendered, where beautification did not change the assessment of the male profiles but significantly improved all assessments of the female profiles.DiscussionThe findings suggested some differences in how visual variations impacted online dating and revealed some interesting differences in the expectations of online dating profile visuals. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-55737a6fbd9d472ea98b549e08abab74 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2297-900X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Communication |
| spelling | doaj-art-55737a6fbd9d472ea98b549e08abab742025-08-20T03:17:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2025-04-011010.3389/fcomm.2025.15721791572179The impacts of media richness, blurriness, and beautification of online dating profile visual elements on dating outcomesMinhao Dai0Shilin Xia1School of Communication and Media, Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, United StatesDepartment of Communication, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, United StatesIntroductionOnline dating is a popular way for individuals to connect today, and the visual elements of an online dating profile have become an essential part of online dating. The current study examined how media richness, visual blurriness, and beautification of an online dating profile’s visual elements would influence online dating outcomes.MethodsWe conducted an online dating experiment with 10 different conditions with younger adults between 18 and 35 (n = 389).ResultsThe results showed that the richer visual elements and the beautified selfie in an online dating profile predicted a number of dating outcomes, including stronger perceived positive traits, more favorable profile assessments, and stronger dating intentions. Moreover, we found such impacts to be gendered, where beautification did not change the assessment of the male profiles but significantly improved all assessments of the female profiles.DiscussionThe findings suggested some differences in how visual variations impacted online dating and revealed some interesting differences in the expectations of online dating profile visuals.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1572179/fullvisual self-representationonline datingdating profileTINDERmedia richnessvisual blurriness |
| spellingShingle | Minhao Dai Shilin Xia The impacts of media richness, blurriness, and beautification of online dating profile visual elements on dating outcomes Frontiers in Communication visual self-representation online dating dating profile TINDER media richness visual blurriness |
| title | The impacts of media richness, blurriness, and beautification of online dating profile visual elements on dating outcomes |
| title_full | The impacts of media richness, blurriness, and beautification of online dating profile visual elements on dating outcomes |
| title_fullStr | The impacts of media richness, blurriness, and beautification of online dating profile visual elements on dating outcomes |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impacts of media richness, blurriness, and beautification of online dating profile visual elements on dating outcomes |
| title_short | The impacts of media richness, blurriness, and beautification of online dating profile visual elements on dating outcomes |
| title_sort | impacts of media richness blurriness and beautification of online dating profile visual elements on dating outcomes |
| topic | visual self-representation online dating dating profile TINDER media richness visual blurriness |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1572179/full |
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