McDonaldization
Callyn Phillips
Meredith Jordan
Research Writing
April 6, 2014 McDonaldization of Online Dating
McDonald’s is one of the most recognizable companies in the world, they have served billions and have restaurants in nearly every country in the world. In a society that greatly values efficiency McDonald’s could be looked at as the ideal model for how to run a corporation. In recent years, the ideologies that McDonald’s uses in running their company are being absorbed into our everyday lives. In 1996 sociologist, George Ritzer, came out with a book explaining this process, even creating the term, “McDonaldization,” to describe it. Essentially, he explains how, “...principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world” (Ritzer 1). This model, based off of the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast-food restaurants, is one of the most influential facets of the global marketplace, and its assembly-line process of doing business is driving down costs and skyrocketing profitability. However, these cost cuts do not come without a price. Although McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurant chains like it have been highly successful in terms of efficiency, there are subtle negative effects on the quality of the product and society as a whole. In recent years one of last industries that would be suspected of McDonaldization, has in fact adopted this business model, the world of dating.
Modern technologies are making it more and more easier to meet new people, with as little face-to-face interaction as possible. A most recent example of this is the dating application, Tinder, which may just be the purest example of how McDonaldization has seeped so far into the floorboards of our society that it is now even affecting the way people are meeting potential life partners. The application shows a picture of one user to another and allows the user to anonymously like or pass them. If
Meredith Jordan
Research Writing
April 6, 2014 McDonaldization of Online Dating
McDonald’s is one of the most recognizable companies in the world, they have served billions and have restaurants in nearly every country in the world. In a society that greatly values efficiency McDonald’s could be looked at as the ideal model for how to run a corporation. In recent years, the ideologies that McDonald’s uses in running their company are being absorbed into our everyday lives. In 1996 sociologist, George Ritzer, came out with a book explaining this process, even creating the term, “McDonaldization,” to describe it. Essentially, he explains how, “...principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world” (Ritzer 1). This model, based off of the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast-food restaurants, is one of the most influential facets of the global marketplace, and its assembly-line process of doing business is driving down costs and skyrocketing profitability. However, these cost cuts do not come without a price. Although McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurant chains like it have been highly successful in terms of efficiency, there are subtle negative effects on the quality of the product and society as a whole. In recent years one of last industries that would be suspected of McDonaldization, has in fact adopted this business model, the world of dating.
Modern technologies are making it more and more easier to meet new people, with as little face-to-face interaction as possible. A most recent example of this is the dating application, Tinder, which may just be the purest example of how McDonaldization has seeped so far into the floorboards of our society that it is now even affecting the way people are meeting potential life partners. The application shows a picture of one user to another and allows the user to anonymously like or pass them. If