Love in a Pandemic: How Has Dating Changed in the Past Year?

It will come as no surprise that this past year made dating almost impossible. With various lockdowns, social distancing and no household mixing allowed, it was hard for single people to make new connections. Of course, some singletons decided to put dating on hold until the country began to reopen. But what about those who were serious about trying to meet someone during lockdown?

Meeting New People

The pandemic drastically changed how you could meet people. Traditional dates couldn’t really happen. You couldn’t meet someone for a drink as the bars were closed. You couldn’t get cosy with a coffee with the two-metre rule in place. The rules of indoor mixing and household bubbles made things difficult, too. It wasn’t just the restrictions that made dating hard. People across the country felt that meeting someone they didn’t know was too much of a risk. The pandemic pressed pause on the world of dating.

Office Romances

What about the people who already had met someone and had a crush? With Brits having to work from home, they couldn’t see their work crush every day. The pandemic altered the landscape of office romances. Booklet printing specialists instantprint created a survey to ask the public what they thought about office romances. It didn’t look particularly promising. Of the 1,517 office workers surveyed, only 10% of people confessed to engaging in workplace romance since the start of the pandemic.

Virtual Dating

Dating apps across the world saw a frenzy of activity. In April 2020, messaging on Tinder increased globally by 52% over the space of a month. Almost half (44%) of UK Hinge users have been on a video date since the new function launched in the summer. Even though chemistry can be hard to come by online, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Also, this style of dating meant people were looking for serious connections rather than casual flings. Even though it was a small number of people, it showed that people were still actively dating during the pandemic.

Going Forward

As the country begins to reopen and some sense of normalcy resumes, what does this mean for the world of dating? Some believe that video dating is here to stay, as it’s a good way to get to know someone before meeting them in person. This could be particularly useful for those who feel anxious about re-entering the dating scene. However, other singletons are likely to throw themselves back into dating and aim to make up for lost time.

The pandemic drastically altered the dating scene and it’s interesting to see what the long-term impacts of this will look like. Each person is different and should go at their own pace. What’s your experience of dating been like the past year?