RÉ-ENCHANTER LA RENCONTRE EN LIGNE : L’INFLUENCE DE LA LITTÉRATURE DANS LA RECONFIGURATION DU DISCOURS DE MARQUE DU SITE ADOPTEUNMEC
RE-ENCHANTING ONLINE DATING: THE INFLUENCE OF LITERATURE IN THE RECONFIGURATION OF THE BRAND DISCOURSE ON THE ADOPTEUNMEC WEBSITE

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the shift in the discourse surrounding the dating site Adopte, which, after generating a buzz with an interface inspired by e-commerce conventions, appears to have set out to re-enchant virtual dating through campaigns that reference or borrow from literature. Despite growing social acceptance, online dating is often still perceived as lacking authenticity. This mistrust stems in part from the very nature of the digital platform, which operates on a consumerist logic. The persistence of the romantic ideal of a spontaneous romantic encounter, shrouded in mystery, is believed to be at the root of this dissonance with digital practices. The aim, therefore, is to examine how the AdopteUnMec platform tends to downplay the commercial aspect of online dating, even though the brand had specifically built its identity on an overtly consumerist positioning. Initially based on a hyperbolic portrayal of the commodification of human relationships, AdopteUnMec’s discourse has gradually shifted toward a literary imagination that draws on fictional worlds, narrative techniques, and reflections on the power of language. This strategy is part of a metonymic treatment of dating: the term is displaced from the discourse in favor of a semiotic configuration aimed at revaluing its symbolism. By drawing on works and practices specific to the literary genre, and by diluting its own voice within the voices of iconic authors or characters to the point of blurring the boundaries between sources of enunciation, the brand seems to infuse the 2.0 experience with a sense of the sublime that technological systems are clearly struggling to provide. Reflectively, this strategy also reveals the limits and shortcomings of commercial discourse and highlights literature’s unique place in the collective imagination.

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