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Swipe Right? Tinder, Commitment and the Commercialisation of Intimate Life

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Romantic Relationships in a Time of ‘Cold Intimacies’

Part of the book series: Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life ((PSFL))

Abstract

This chapter explores the posited commercialisation of intimate relationships and the threat that this is perceived to pose to traditional forms of commitment (Illouz, Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007; Why Love Hurts: A Sociological Explanation. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2012). It draws on a qualitative study of heterosexual male Tinder users, with analysis undermining the distinction between ‘hook-ups’ and long-term commitment, as participants began all encounters casually before they potentially developed further. Encounters initiated on the app were dominated by heteronormative scripts, reflecting wider structural gender inequalities rather than fundamentally challenging them. On the basis of these findings, there is limited evidence to suggest that the use of dating apps such as Tinder reflects either the emancipatory potential of the Internet or the commercialisation of intimate life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK

    Jenny van Hooff

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  1. Jenny van Hooff
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Correspondence to Jenny van Hooff .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Julia Carter

  2. University of Hull, Hull, UK

    Lorena Arocha

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van Hooff, J. (2020). Swipe Right? Tinder, Commitment and the Commercialisation of Intimate Life. In: Carter, J., Arocha, L. (eds) Romantic Relationships in a Time of ‘Cold Intimacies’. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29256-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29256-0_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-29255-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-29256-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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