# The efficiency paradox: A temporal lens into online dating among Chinese immigrants in Canada

## TL;DR

This study explores how Chinese immigrant daters in Canada experience time and efficiency in online dating, revealing a paradox where the promise of efficiency leads to feelings of inefficiency.

## Contribution

The study introduces the concept of an 'efficiency paradox' in online dating, highlighting how temporal experiences challenge assumptions about digital efficiency.

## Key findings

- Participants initially expected online dating to save time but later experienced inefficiency through temporal suspension and simultaneity.
- Temporal reconfiguration during modality switching further contradicted participants' efficiency expectations.
- Some participants shifted their preference to a slower, more deliberate dating pace after experiencing the paradox.

## Abstract

Online dating is widely assumed to enhance the overall efficiency of relationship formation through expanding the pool of potential partners. Yet little is known about how this presumed efficiency plays out beyond the initial search stage. Although temporal compression (i.e., saving time) is considered central to the notion of efficiency, individuals’ lived realities of time and efficiency in online dating remain understudied. Adopting a grounded theory approach to analyzing 31 in-depth interviews with heterosexual Chinese immigrant online daters in Canada, we reveal how time-related expectations and experiences shaped their perceptions of (in)efficiency throughout different stages of online dating. Specifically, our participants started with an efficiency expectation of temporal compression, expecting online dating to save time. As the dating process unfolded, however, they experienced inefficiency through diverse temporalities, including temporal suspension and simultaneity in mediated communication and temporal reconfiguration during modality switching. These experiences contradicted our participants’ initial efficiency expectation, prompting some to reevaluate their expectation and develop a preference for temporal slowdown in dating. Our findings highlight an “efficiency paradox” whereby the promise of efficiency not only runs counter to online daters’ lived realities but also amplifies perceptions of inefficiency. Foregrounding the voices of racial minority immigrants, our study challenges the commonly envisioned efficiency of online dating and provides new insights into how digital technologies mediate intimate lives through shaping individuals’ temporal experiences.