Treena Orchard, "Sticky, Sexy, Sad: Swipe Culture and the Darker Side of Dating Apps" (Aevo, U Toronto Press, 2024)

Nov 26, 2025

Treena Orchard, an anthropologist and author, explores the chaotic world of dating apps in her memoir, Sticky, Sexy, Sad. She shares her personal journey from a lifelong luddite to a reluctant swipe culture participant, emphasizing the emotional toll of ghosting and the addictive nature of these platforms. Treena critiques the 'girl boss' persona on apps like Bumble and discusses the ethics of writing about personal experiences while fostering understanding. Her insights reveal the complex interplay of intimacy, identity, and technology in modern romance.

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ANECDOTE

Rapid Journaling Led To A Book

Treena Orchard began by recording dates and ghosting occurrences and wrote 60,000 words within three months of using apps.
She realized the material formed a book that would be memoiristic rather than academic.

INSIGHT

Publishing From A Position Of Security

Orchard framed her decision to publish as political and made it from a place of occupational security.
She used her tenure and academic standing to take creative risks without fearing career loss.

ADVICE

Broaden Structure Beyond One App

Edit structure to avoid being a "one-trick pony" and make topics broadly relevant across apps.
Use concise chapter titles and broader scope to reach a public audience.

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In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Treena Orchard about her memoir, Sticky, Sexy, Sad: Swipe Culture and the Darker Side of Dating Apps (Aevo, U Toronto Press, 2024).

Jane Goodall meets Carrie Bradshaw in Sticky, Sexy, Sad – an insightful, empowering memoir by an anthropologist who lays her own life bare as she explores the cultural matrix of digital courtship.

Lifelong luddite Treena Orchard was a newly sober woman coming off a much-needed break from relationships, reluctantly taking the digital plunge by downloading a dating app. Instead of the fun, easy experiences advertised on swiping platforms, she discovered endless upkeep, ghosting, fleeting moments of sexual connection, and a steady flow of misogyny.

In Sticky, Sexy, Sad, Orchard uses her skills as both an anthropologist who studies sexuality and a sex-positive feminist to explore what it feels like to want love while also resisting the addictive pull of platforms designed to make us swipe-dependent. She asks important questions for those searching for love in the modern era: What are the social and human impacts of using dating apps? How can we maintain our integrity and warm-blooded desire for intimacy while swiping? Can we resist some of the problematic aspects of swipe culture? Is love on dating apps even possible?

Revealing how dating apps are powerful social and sexual technologies that are radically transforming sexuality, relationships, and how we think about ourselves, this remarkable book cracks the code of modern romance. Told with humor and vulnerability, Sticky, Sexy, Sad is a riveting and inspiring guide to staying true to ourselves amid the digitization of love in the twenty-first century.

Treena Orchard is an anthropologist and associate professor in the School of Health Studies at Western University. She researches and engages in activist debates about sexuality, gender, and health among diverse cultural and digital communities. Deeply committed to public scholarship, she regularly writes for and is featured in leading online publications, including Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, and The Conversation.

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