The use of apps and online sites is widespread in Asia. With the usage of apps like TanTan, Bumble, Momo, Grindr, and many more others being on the rise. This review aims to collect study data, to understand the online dating environment in Asia. To accomplish the set objective, this review is carried out following guidelines outlined in the ROSES review protocol. To identify articles, a search was done on Scopus and Emerald databases using a combination of keywords. Google Scholar was used as an additional database. 19 items from the search met the requirements for inclusion. According to the findings of this literature research, there is a large number of persons participating in digital dating in Asia. Several individuals use dating apps or websites to meet love and sexual partners, mingle, enjoy themselves, and fulfil their curiosity. Some apps are even used as anti-stigma tools, meaning people should be allowed the freedom to date or love regardless of sexual orientation (heterosexual or homosexual), age, race, religion and many other factors. The use of apps has also been linked to depersonalization issues, where users are prone to presenting an idealised version of themselves and their circumstances, to improve their success in mate selection. According to this review, some of the attributes considered during mate selection are age, height, income status; with most online dating requirements being materialistic, physical build and attractiveness-oriented, prioritizing desire to have children, and education level. Though there are many benefits, especially when it has helped during the COVID-19 pandemic where people are mostly staying home, digital dating has also been associated with risky casual sex behaviours and the promotion of substance abuse among dating app users in Asia. Yet, this study will benefit and is important for scholars and online dating application (apps) companies to understand that not all western theories are applicable in Asian community as westerners are known to be individualistic in nature and habits whereas Asians are collectivist and have different needs when it comes to online dating.

Altman and Taylor's (1973) Social Penetration Theory (SPT) suggests that in any relationship or communication pathway, each participant makes a conscious decision to either increase or decrease the level of self-information disclosure based on an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of maintaining the relationship over an unspecified period. An examination of the literature on the effect of online communication on the theory indicates that significant alterations have happened in the social penetration theory, altering the communication process and, therefore, the sorts of connections resulting from computermediated platforms. After extensive screening and assessment, 18 articles were selected via a review of the available literature. Subsequently, a thematic analysis of the literature revealed the following primary themes: motives and expectations, privacy, audience, interaction, audience, and adjustments. The review encountered obstacles, such as the small selection of published materials. This article focuses on SPT in digital communication, with most literature focusing on online social networks. Recommendations were made that the very dynamic and ever-changing character of social penetration in online communication should be based on conversation and interactions rather than theory.