The Ethnography of Eros: Love in the Age of the Algorithm

A Reflexive Ethnography on Digital Intimacy and Performativity

This ethnographic study examines how love, desire, and digital culture converge in the age of algorithmic matchmaking. Using dating apps as field sites, it investigates how individuals perform identity, intimacy, and affection through the lens of data and design. The project explores how algorithmic systems not only mediate human connection but also script new rituals of visibility, vulnerability, and validation.

Through reflexive fieldwork and narrative inquiry, The Ethnography of Eros reframes dating as both a social experiment and a cultural performance—where authenticity is curated, affection is quantified, and connection is both hyper-accessible and profoundly detached. The research situates modern courtship within a broader anthropology of selfhood, technology, and performative love, asking: what happens when the pursuit of connection becomes a form of content creation?