Dating apps are urging users to stay home amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
OKCupid, Hinge, and Coffee Meets Bagel have all urged singletons to embrace social distancing and not go out on dates — but, they’ve pointed out, that doesn’t mean romance and the search for The One has to end.
The apps are all encouraging users to stick to virtual dates at the moment, using texting, phone calls, FaceTime, and Skype for their romantic needs.
Digital getdown! Dating apps are urging people not to go out on dates, but to stick to video calls (stock image)
OKCupid wrote: ‘Now is NOT the time to go out with your date to a bar. FaceTime, Skype, call, text, call, message on our app….all very romantic right now’
Things changing fast: Just last week, the app surveyed users and found that 88% were willing to go out on dates
By now, many singles have already figured out that ‘social distancing’ means not just skipping a night out with friends, but also banning date nights on the town.
But for those still planning to meet up with dating app matches, OKCupid tweeted a message on March 16.
‘We don’t know who needs to hear this, but now is NOT the time to go out with your date to a bar. FaceTime, Skype, call, text, call, message on our app….all very romantic right now,’ they wrote.
The app’s urgent message comes less than a week after the app surveyed users and found that 88 per cent were still willing to go out on dates, with even higher numbers in the US and UK.
Of course, those numbers may have changed in the days since, as more and more information about the spread of the virus comes to light and sates shut down bars and restaurants.
Be safe! Hinge has had a similar message about staying home for its users
Hinge has had a similar message about staying home for its users.
‘Love in the time of Coronavirus is absolutely possible, and we’re here to help you through it,’ they wrote on Twitter and Instagram
‘Love in the time of Coronavirus is absolutely possible, and we’re here to help you through it,’ they wrote on Twitter and Instagram.
‘Instead of planning an in-person date, suggest a phone call or a video chat date.
If you’re not sure what to talk about, try asking each other Hinge Prompt questions as icebreakers.
‘The quarantine pickup lines are already overplayed, so start a conversation with something genuine as you normally would.
‘We are all in this together, and it is so important to have human connection, even when we’re apart.
‘Your health is the most important thing. Please keep following the recommendations from the WHO,’ they concluded.
They also joked that ‘everyone is long distance now.’
They’re not wrong! Hinge pointed out that everyone who doesn’t live with their significant other is in a long-distance relationship these days
No need to get dressed! They’re one of several apps urging people to video chat
The brigIh side: lana Dunn, a content producer for the site, tweeted that her teenage habits prepared her for this
Sounds amazing! She also pointed out that dating remotely means you can unbutton your jeans when you’re full
Ilana Dunn, a content producer for the site, tweeted that she ‘never imagined that video chatting with boys all night long in high school would have prepared my 25 year old self to date to be a successful dater during a pandemic.’
Another dating app, Coffee Meets Bagel, shared its own note on social media.
‘Some of us may pause going on in-person dates, and that’s OK. For those who want more than messages but aren’t ready to meet IRL, virtual dates can be an awesome alternative.’
Coffee Meets Bagel has also suggested several virtual date ideas, including video game dates, virtual Netflix and chill, and having a two-person book club.
Their other ideas include having a ‘dinner party’ in which both people make the same recipe and eat together over video chat, following a Bob Ross tutorial together, and exercising over video chat.
Rachel DeAlto, the chief dating expert for Match, told the Washington Post last week that COVID-19 presents an opportunity to be a bit pickier.
Get creative! Coffee Meets Bagel has also suggested several virtual date ideas, including video game dates, virtual Netflix and chill, and having a two-person book club
She also suggested chatting over FaceTime or Skype before meeting — and she wasn’t the only one. Several doctors were also urging people to consider these virtual dates.
Dr. Natasha Fuksina, Diplomate of American Board of Internal Medicine, agreed that meeting virtually first might be a good route.
‘It will lessen some of the fears and help build trust and a relationship going forward,’ she told Mashable.
‘I do not believe we need to shut down dating amid the coronavirus,’ added Dr. Taylor Graber, an anesthesiology resident at the San Diego with University of California San Diego.
‘In young, healthy adults, there is a very low risk of contracting serious consequences of the illness.’
The calls for dating at home began to pour in last week as singles complained that dating was becoming harder.
Profile update: Several people are referencing the pandemic and quarantine in their profiles — and suggesting virtual dates, like this guy on Bumble
For some, the spread of COVID-19 began as a good starting point to bond with strangers, and many are cracking jokes about it on Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and other apps.
‘”Corona virus & chill”… or is that too soon to put on a dating app?’ asked one Twitter user.
Others suggest to their potential dates that they could go into ‘quarantine’ together.
But for more and more, the virus has not been a joking matter.
‘I was talking to a man on tinder and I told him I was traveling and he said “with this corona virus!?” Then unmatched me,’ tweeted comedian Nicole Byer.
Sajmun Sachdev, 36, a single woman living in Montreal, told the Washington Post that that she was chatting with a cute guy when he mentioned he has just gotten back from China — and she balked.
‘I’m not sure that this is totally worth it,’ she said. ‘There must be someone else I can meet.’
‘I don’t think anyone really wants to rush meeting in person, given everything,’ added Meghan Lloyd, 28, from San Francisco.
‘We’re just chatting longer than is usual.’
No contact! Last week, a few people said that they’d had dates canceled because of coronavirus, while others said social distancing would put a dampener on any romance
Taking a break: One person said that they needed to take a break from dating in order to properly disinfect their phone
Perfect excuse: Some welcomed the opportunity to take a break from dating
