Illustration for Digital Bodies Zine - Possibly Everything We have been Told about Dating(ish)
As digital spaces increasingly shape how we connect, Digital Bodies explores
Through speculative inquiry, experimental documentation, and collective storytelling, this project examines the ways in which technology mediates modern intimacy—shaping desire, relationships, and selfhood.
From the phenomenon of "catfishing" to the algorithmic construction of attraction, Digital Bodies investigates the blurred boundaries between authenticity, deception, agency, and surveillance in digital-era dating and self-representation.
Methodologies
Zine Making | Writing | Field Research | Research through VR | Speculative Fictions
Collaborators
Yashika Goel | Myah Walters | Jin Jung | Vivi Su
Conceptualisation, Research, Development and Writing was shared amongst all collaborators. Zine Layout Design was by Jin Jung.
Tools and Mediums
Zine Making | Adobe Suite for Editorial Design and Illustration
What is Possibly Everything We Have Been Told about Dating(ish)?
Digital Bodies materialized as a two-part project:
Zine - "Possibly Everything We Have Been Taught About Dating(ish)"
A collaborative publication that critically examines digital romance through :
Research & Speculative Inquiry
Rather than presenting online dating as good or bad, Digital Bodies frames it as a space of negotiation—where attraction is both shaped by and resistant to technological mediation.
a l s >
Why make a zine on digital bodies?
As technology continues to mediate human connection, desire, and selfhood, online dating platforms have become both playgrounds and battlegrounds for intimacy.
Algorithms don’t just match people; they filter, rank, and curate attraction, creating a datafied version of desirability. Swiping left or right isn’t just an action—it’s a performance of preference, influenced by algorithmic bias, social conditioning, and the invisible logic of digital platforms.
How does online dating shape our expectations of attraction and intimacy?
Do dating apps reinforce existing social biases, or do they create new ones?
How do we curate and perform desirability in virtual spaces?
Taking inspiration from:
Digital Bodies does not seek to romanticize or condemn online dating; rather, it explores it as a space of contradictions—where connection, deception, self-expression, and algorithmic control coexist.
Signal - Catfishing AI on Dating Apps?
1. Dating apps are now being emdiated by AI bots, a new form of catfishing? or a signal for our future intimacies?
Refer here, and here.
Signal - Bumble AI Assistant?
2. Bumble co-founder suggesting an AI Concierge that would date other people’s AI concierge so you don’t have to talk to anyone and everyone.
Refer here.
< M e t h o d
o l o g i e s +
P r o c e s s >
o l o g i e s +
P r o c e s s >
How do we build a conversation through playing with digital materiality over a paper zine?
One
<Research
and Field Engagement>
We began by interrogating the structures of digital matchmaking:
This research was further informed by:
This research was further informed by:
Two
<Collaborative Speculation and Narrative Development>
Recognizing dating as an evolving cultural practice, we adopted a speculative approach, asking :
What if dating was designed to optimize emotional efficiency?
What if self-curation wasn’t optional, but mandatory?
What does it mean to trust—or deceive—someone in a world of digital selves?
From these provocations, we developed narrative experiments that unpack :
What if dating was designed to optimize emotional efficiency?
What if self-curation wasn’t optional, but mandatory?
What does it mean to trust—or deceive—someone in a world of digital selves?
From these provocations, we developed narrative experiments that unpack :
Three
<Making the Zine -
Designing a Counter- Narrative>
Why a zine?
Rather than a conventional research report, we chose a zine format because :
Our first issue explores :
Rather than a conventional research report, we chose a zine format because :
Our first issue explores :
Three
<Reflections
and Looking Forward>
Online intimacy is not just about connection—it’s about visibility, power, and self-construction.
How much of our digital desirability is algorithmically determined?
Do we control our digital bodies, or do they control us?
Can a zine, a print-based artifact, disrupt the fleeting nature of digital relationships?
Rather than resolving these tensions, Digital Bodies invites audiences to question, reflect, and redefine what intimacy means in an age of algorithmic love.
How much of our digital desirability is algorithmically determined?
Do we control our digital bodies, or do they control us?
Can a zine, a print-based artifact, disrupt the fleeting nature of digital relationships?
Rather than resolving these tensions, Digital Bodies invites audiences to question, reflect, and redefine what intimacy means in an age of algorithmic love.
My research within exploring interpersonal relationships and communtiy building as mediated through online systems continues as I work on future projects.
If you want to know more, discuss more, please reach out at workxyashika@gmail.com