Tinder and Time Work through the Lens of Gender: Temporal Agency, Technology, and Intimacy

Abstract

Time work has served as part of the conceptual framework for research that explores the connection between agency and temporal experience. We advance this line of inquiry by asking how temporal agency is refracted through the lens of gender when people use the Tinder dating app. Our analysis is based on 44 semistructured interviews with Tinder users in Romania conducted between 2019 and 2022. Tinder is designed to promote a fast-paced dating dynamic, but our findings show that people customize various dimensions of their temporal experience, including duration, frequency, sequence, timing, allocation, and stealing time. Users strive to develop temporal tactics that suit their dating aims while typically adhering to gendered expectations.