Photo Credit: CTV News
The Covid-19 surge flipped the world of dating upside down. Unlike the traditional usual after-work drinks, daters were forced to experiment with virtual dating with masked walks. All forms of physical contact, including a hug, needed a long-term conversation first to assess the partner’s condition beforehand. Several daters self-quarantine for months before having indoor meals with their counterparts. The procedure took a lot of work and thought, which created a set of frameworks that has since altered the world of dating for the most part.
The fact that Covid-19 is spread through saliva droplets prompted doctors and researchers to advise singles to avoid physical contact through greetings. The act of kissing practiced by individuals while dating has remained a threat to contracting the virus. David Cox, the writer of BBC the life project, explains that many people who feel more concerned about the risk of contracting Covid-19 transform their dating approaches as a self-protection mechanism. For instance, people have adopted online dating apps and video chatting due to social restrictions and severe consequences associated with the pandemic.
According to a BBC work-life article, a behavioral scientist known as Logan Ury admits that as a director of the Hinge dating app, she has noticed a transformation in how people approach online dating. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, individuals could utilize the app to move from one partner to another constantly. However, due to the pandemic’s social restrictions, people began spending more time in the virtual world trying to get to know each other before physical meetings.
The article suggests that the pandemic has added a sense in the value of online dating. After a long period of video calls and chats, the individuals finally meet in person, making the little time they share physically to possess more meaning and importance in their lives. Moreover, people have gained more knowledge of what they are looking for in life partners because of the introspection that most individuals have experienced during Covid-19 lockdowns. People have had enough time to think about when the lockdowns would end and when the subsequent lockdown would begin, which has made them have a more intentional way of dating.
The Covid-19 pandemic prompted the long-term prospects of most dating individuals. This resulted from lockdowns in most countries, which left long-term daters to spend longer without face-to-face bonding. During this time, people started valuing the presence of each other as loneliness was the order of the day. Communication became essential, and for those couples who were dating and fell victims to the Covid-19 virus, their relationship became more robust after surviving the deadly infection.
Strategies such as video calling among dating partners are here to stay even when the situation normalizes. People will have to engage in knowing individuals via the virtual world before physical dating. Health care personnel acknowledge that dating is essential, and a meeting is also crucial. Still, if individuals must continue with physically meeting, they need to adhere to the safety precautions protocols such as wearing face masks as well as social distancing. Thus with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the dating strategies have changed, with many people embracing technology to assist them in their dating behavior.
