The gamification of love | Extremely Online | The Spinoff
The Gamification of Love
Love in the Digital Age
In 2009, 27-year-old Sal married Nene, a girl from Tokyo. It was a unique ceremony, not just because it was broadcast to thousands of people online, but because Sal’s bride was a character in the Nintendo DS game LovePlus. Even though it wasn’t legally binding, this was the world’s first human to avatar union. It seems with the evolution of the internet and the emergence of dating apps that love really is a game.
Love as a Game
Dating apps have gamified love. Gamification is when you apply game-like qualities to something that isn’t a game. It’s about taking advantage of our brains because we crave entertainment and rewards. For example, Tinder. Why do we use it? If you ask Elisabeth Timmermans, who’s got a PhD in the app, it’s for amusement, curiosity, socialization, and love. In that order. According to her research, love isn’t the first, second, or even third reason people use Tinder. The nature of Tinder’s swiping motion is to be fun. When you match with someone, it’s made to feel like you’re winning a prize.
Seeking Virtual Connections
As you flip through so many pictures, you start seeing people as less like humans and more like avatars. It’s as if you’re choosing who you’re gonna date in The Sims. And if it is a game, then there must be winners and losers. While there’s no explicit scoring system, there are a few implicit ways you can score. Like every time you match with another user or when you meet up in real life. How do you really win the game? Is it a match? A hookup? Finding love? Or is modern love just a losing game?
Buying Intimacy
Unlike in LovePlus, where you seek real connections with virtual people, dating apps seem to be more and more about seeking virtual connections with real people. And if you can’t win love, maybe you can buy it. Or intimacy, at least. One of the ways people are buying intimacy is through platforms like OnlyFans, where you subscribe to exclusive content in human connection. The content doesn’t even have to be explicit. You can pay for things like texts and video calls too. It’s like a subscription for a significant other.
Conclusion
And if all else fails, if you can’t meet someone in real life, dating apps have you swiped out and your subscription to love has expired… You could always marry an avatar.
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