University of Salford funded PhD student aims to make online dating safer and more private
Despite having to drop out of a previous PhD due to competing demands on his time, John Hodson was determined not to let this set him back from achieving his ambition of helping to drive equality for online communities. And thanks to a Widening Participation Scholarship from the University of Salford, he is now conducting research with the aim of improving mobile dating app policies, particularly for LGBTQ+ individuals.
John Hodson
Two years into his PhD, John is researching the experiences of queer men who use dating apps anonymously, collating qualitative data that will help to identify individual’s intentions and needs within these apps. John hopes that the findings of his research will inform future policies, such as privacy policies and national policies around online safety.
John said: “We are currently witnessing a deeply unstable digital world. I would like to see a consideration amongst policy makers that users are becoming more and more concerned about their data privacy without being able to properly address this concern.”
His work has highlighted the growing inequalities for LGBTQ+ individuals when dating online due to a higher demand for anonymity, which is in contrast to the increasing amounts of data being collected by these dating apps and the pressures users face to disclose personal information to others.
John first discovered his love for research whilst studying for his undergraduate media degree at the University of East Anglia and knew that this was something he wanted to pursue long-term.
However, after spending several months studying for his PhD elsewhere, John had to drop out of the course due to unsustainable work demands, juggling a paid job alongside his PhD studies.
He said: “I was working full time Monday to Friday doing my PhD work, and then also working all day Saturday and Sunday. As a student from a low-income background, I had already done this for several years at undergraduate; it was physically painful, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to continue living like that.”
John decided not to give up his dream of pursuing academia and began to reach out to different universities regarding funded opportunities. He not only discovered the fully funded Widening Participation Scholarship at the University of Salford but also realised that Salford was the perfect fit for his subject area.
He said: “The PhD at Salford has allowed me to just completely follow something that has been a personal curiosity of mine for many years, whilst also contributing to new knowledge. So that's been really valuable, being able to hit two birds with one stone, validating my own curiosity whilst contributing to new ideas.”
John also discussed the supportive post doctorate opportunities that Salford provides: “Salford is again one of universities that most piques my interest in terms of post doctorate opportunities. As well as the incredibly supportive research environment, it provides extremely generous fellowship opportunities, which are five years long and offer full time contracts at the end. I haven’t heard of any other universities offering anything like this and it would be an incredible contract to receive.”
For all press office enquiries please email communications@salford.ac.uk.