If you’re not feeling dating right now, don’t force it. To their credit, dating apps are adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic. They’re promoting the “virtual date” and adding features to make video dating the thing of the moment. First dates can progress to second dates, only this time on Facetime - another digital experience that prevents us from canoodling and inadvertently spreading the virus.
Dating.com reported an 82% spike in online dating globally, which goes to show how video dating has become a popular alternative. This isn’t surprising considering lockdown has left many people with time on their hands after perhaps being furloughed or made unemployed by the crisis. Some might have even turned to virtual dating out of boredom.
Yes – it’s cheap and easy. No need to impress your date by bagging the trendiest restaurant reservation in town. You don’t even need to be in the same town. Hell, you only need half an outfit. Bumble markets its video dating feature as a safer way to date compared to swapping numbers *and germs* early on in the dating process.
But try as you might, it’s tough to muster that same rush at the prospect of a virtual date compared to getting suited and booted and meeting someone in the flesh, and there’s no substitute for real-time chemistry.
Video dating comes with all the same pressures, and more. Is the bedroom too sexual, the living room too messy? Sip from a champagne flute or chipped Uni mug? Light a candle or is that too much? Aftershave? Makeup? Music? There’s a lot to think about when attempting to judge a romantic connection through a screen. Is their WiFi really that sketchy or are they just not that into you? Not to mention, we’ve all been there when a Tinder date doesn’t quite match up to their profile. Zoom is just the next best thing.
With lockdowns easing all over the world, people will be looking to have normal human interactions and connections more than ever. The thought of spending more of our personal lives in the virtual world is unappealing after spending months online shut off from our lives as we know it. For many of us, the drive for normality will outweigh the new-found concerns surrounding meeting new people.
If video dating works for you, go for it! But if you’re dipping out of the video dating crusade, no worries - living through a pandemic is stressful enough. Dating is supposed to be fun. And one thing’s for sure, the post-coronavirus dating scene will have changed for the better... trust us on this one ;)