3 Reasons Why Corona is Improving Your Dating Game
Written by Helen Guo
Summer is the season for those who are single and ready to mingle – well except this year. With a global pandemic hitting the streets, we have no other choice but to stay home or social distance if we go out. So, if you were thinking that this was your year to go out and meet someone, you might find yourself disappointed.
Fear not! While current circumstances don’t allow for traditional dates or casual hookups, corona doesn’t mean your dating life has to be on pause. In fact, here are 3 reasons why corona is improving your dating game.
Heart-to-Heart
With many of us working or studying remotely, we have more time on our hands than ever before. So instead of using dating apps to fill those 10 min work breaks, now is the opportunity to actually settle down and talk to your online matches. Especially in a time of physical isolation, we crave social interaction. But since hookups are off the table, genuine conversation is being served instead.
While those first encounters can be awkward and filled with small talk or cheesy pick up lines, the current state of the world opens the doors to more serious and in-depth conversations. Topics can range from what the other person has been doing during quarantine to their future plans once the world is back to normal. Discussing issues surrounding shared experiences – like quarantine – can also inspire a closer relationship. Having authentic conversations about your hopes and fears will no doubt help you build a meaningful connection with your match, bringing you one step closer to love.
Date Night? Easy!
You’re planning to meet your online match for the first time in real life. Fancy dinner or casual café? Who’s going to pay? Are we going to spend the night together? These worries cause your heart to start pumping in double time and you to break out in cold sweat. Yet at the same time, you’re excited to meet the person you’ve spent so long talking to. Now, thanks to the pandemic, date night is cancelled.
Or is it?
Enter: virtual dates.
While it may seem at first that virtual dates are less romantic than in-person rendezvous, they are actually the perfect transition between chatting online and meeting IRL. There’s no worrying about choosing the perfect meetup spot, or how early to show up, or how to end off the date (a hug? a kiss? an invitation to your place?). Instead, you can take the time to get ready, settle down somewhere comfortable, and hop on a video call with your date without the pressure of being in a public setting. You could even light some candles or decorate with rose petals if you’re feeling romantic – it’s your home after all, you can do what you want – and this can show your date that you’re creative and thoughtful.
Furthermore, if you’re not feeling the connection, you can always sign off the call and go back to enjoying your evening at home. But if the two of you are hitting it off, then there’s plenty of ideas for second dates! Movie night at home with the help of the Netflix Party plugin is easier than ever. You can also cook dinner together, or take a virtual tour of Disney World.
Less is more
Social distancing is the perfect time to form those deeper connections, and possibly find love. But are your dating apps pandemic ready?
Studies have found that female profiles that swipe indiscriminately on Tinder received 200 matches within the first hour. For males, this number is around 100. While this disparity is an interesting topic in and of itself, the significance of the data here is that the number of matches people get on traditional dating apps is shocking. Realistically, you would never talk to most of those matches, much less go on a date. So why would anyone need hundreds of matches?
When this question was posed to college students, 22% said they were looking for hookups, 45% said it was for “confidence-boosting procrastination”, and only 4% said they were looking for a relationship. This only goes to show that traditional dating apps may not be the place to meet “the one”.
The truth is, more matches actually discourages the formation of deeper connections. While it may be counterintuitive to think that more options can be a bad thing, that is what we call the paradox of choice. Too many options can actually cause us stress and anxiety due to a cognitive overload, which is why Heartcade has designed their app to do the work for you.
Heartcade’s powerful A.I. will match you up with not 100, not 50, but just 3 ideal matches based on your preferences. Through written and voice texts, you can get to know your matches one by one. Only after three days of conversation are you asked to decide if you’ve developed connections with your matches. If yes, then Heartcade will move those profiles to your “True Matches” file where you can continue to communicate. By designing the app with relationships in mind, Heartcade is equipped to help you navigate the dating scene even when there’s a global pandemic afoot.
While it’s certain that we’ll still go on physical dates after quarantine is over, our attitudes towards dating may have actually changed for the better thanks to social distancing.
If you’re interested in stepping up your dating game during corona, Heartcade is hosting an All Universities Blind Dating Event across Ontario. If you’re a student, use with your school email to apply! Get outside of your campus’ bubble and meet the person of your dreams.
