Linking Up!

Through the countless interactions individuals have on the app Bumble, it becomes evident, through the affordance of attaching other personal accounts and the familiarity of the interface of the app, that the application does allow a user to make judgement on a stranger. By Bumble having the same swipe options as Tinder, profiles that are replicating the scrolling feature on Instagram, and using the well-known three face interfaces to display content, the application demonstrates similarities to well used and well known applications. Through the ability to link one’s Spotify, Instagram, and Facebook account, Bumble demonstrates the affordance of giving people the opportunity to share and connect based on interests.

Thus, when discussing socio-technical affordances, the ability Bumble presents to learn about other individuals demonstrates the affordance as how a person can make judgement about a stranger through the design of the app. Through Suchman’s analysis, it is evident as to how the app is designed in a certain way to include all these features, however, through it a user’s can construct and understand the identity of a stranger (MacLeod & McArthur, 2018). Thus, demonstrating the socio-technical affordance of the application that allows a user to utilize the dating world to its full potential by being able to construct, understand, and relate to an individual that the users has never met before.