By Any Other Name

Tinder is a dating app like any other, popular among the youngsters probably mostly because it’s free - and let’s not forget the ego-inflation side effect. So, in Tuan’s reading he talks about how names might change the way we think and feel things (Tuan, 1991). So my question is: if Tinder were not called Tinder would it still be Tinder? In many respects the answer to the question of  ‘if something were not something, would it still be something?’ has an obvious answer - yes. However in regards to Tinder, I feel as though this would be a no. The power of names can be made an example of in the below picture.

Retrieved from:http://www.someecards.com/flirting-cards/go-out-with-anyone-on-tinder-okcupid-funny-ecard

Tinder uses the symbol of a flame in its iconography to create a sense of place. You will have seen this icon in some of the imagery posted in this blog and if you for some plebby reason have not, here this is what I’m talking about:

Retrieved from: http://america.aljazeera.com/blogs/scrutineer/2014/7/2/tinder-cofoundertakesswipeatdatingappssexistworkplace.html

Seeing this symbol lets you know that you’re in the tinder world. The symbol of the flame is in direct link to the name Tinder (you know, fire, smolder, flame, tinder etc get the picture already). So if Tinder wasn’t called Tinder, this flame icon would not be necessary and you would therefore not be transported to the Tinder space.

In previous blog posts I’ve spoken about a bio that allows you 500 characters to convince any potential matches to swipe right. This is an ideal opportunity for users to use rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art of persuasive discourse. This week we looked at the importance of rhetoric as narrative in speaking and politics (Van Luyn, 2015), and how these narrative can shape the way we see things, just like how the names of things I spoke about previously can also affect these senses.

References: 

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the Making of Place: A Descriptive-Narrative Approach. Wisconsin, US: Taylor & Francis, ltd.

Van Luyn, A. (2015). BA1002: Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, week 5 notes. Retrieved August 29, 2015, from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file

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