Resumen de Lez takes time: : designing lesbian contact in geosocial networking apps
Sarah Murray, Megan Sapnar Ankerson
As dating and hookup apps for gay men and hetero-identified users flourish, the slow growth of lesbian-identified apps is continually framed as a “problem” by developers, investors, and users. We observe this “problem” to be one of designing lesbian contact, a problem that materializes as a queer incommensurability at the intersection of app design, technology startup culture, and perceptions of lesbian sexuality. While locative media scholarship foregrounds the social dimensions of space, we consider temporal orienting devices that design contact among women seeking women using a case study of the lesbian dating app, Dattch (rebranded as Her in 2015). Dattch's development and eventual reconfiguration into Her exemplifies how lesbian contact is negotiated through an iterative design process that tries to manage the pressures of a rapidly moving, capital-driven “appified” market.
