The pandemic completely changed life for all of us as we know it. Like everything we enjoyed in person, online dating significantly increased during the pandemic. Like everything else, dating online during the pandemic was not the same as dating pre-pandemic.
On Average Conversations Were Longer
Online dating has always been a hassle for many people, and before the pandemic, ghosting was rampant. Before the pandemic, people swiped right and matched with others on their dating profiles, but later conversations would fizzle out. According to a report carried out by Tinder, on average, conversations were 32 percent longer than they had been before the pandemic — meaning that people went the extra mile to create and sustain the connections that they had found during the pandemic.
People Found Potential New Partners More Attractive
The same Tinder report revealed that people found each other 42 percent more attractive during the pandemic era than before it. Surprisingly, the pandemic fueled the rise of people looking beyond the skin's surface to determine if they wanted to date them in the long term based more heavily on attributes like humor, empathy, emotional intelligence, and kindness. In the past, people prioritized height, weight, or income as a factor for dating. While some factors like financial stability are important, more people are turning away from superficial characteristics to prioritize inner qualities.
Dating Rates Increased
Although top date destinations like cafes, bars, movie cinemas, and restaurants were shut down, people were actively trying to meet new potential partners, and dating apps made these connections more accessible. Bumble, a well-known dating site, reported that it had more than 12 million active users worldwide in September 2020, and other dating sites like OkCupid and Tinder also reported a significant uprise in dating trends at the height of the 2020 pandemic.
In Person Dating Success Rates Dwindled
Although a lot of people experimented with dating apps, unsurprisingly, very few were able to find dating success in person. Because of the strict boundaries that the pandemic enforced on people, the dating world seemed to migrate to the online space, forcing people to struggle to find things to do on dates outside of the virtual hemisphere.
People Have Become More Intentional
According to Tinder, many users of the platform increasingly became more forthright and open about their boundaries. This indicates that in the future, daters will continue to be more outspoken about what is acceptable to them in a romantic relationship and what is not. While the pandemic has pushed us all to change our lifestyles and make adjustments, it can also inspire people to become more reflective about what they want out of a relationship. It has also forever changed the dating scene by causing people to become more austere about their dating habits and partners. The pandemic has also shown that virtual online dating is also here to stay.