Love in the time of COVID-19: Will the concept of dating change post lockdown?

Chennai

As we know dating would never be the same in the post-COVID era. While some are serious about maintaining social distancing, a few are bothered about being in contact with people who might carry the virus without showing any symptoms. Tinder spokesperson tells DT Next, “This situation is still evolving so we aren’t in a position to comment on what lies ahead. The most important thing we can do right now is to give our members a way to escape social distancing and self-quarantine and find solidarity with new matches around the world. In challenging times, we need to find a way to maintain social rhythms and build new relationships that will sustain us.”

Last week, Tinder launched a new feature called Prompts on the product that displays among your profile photos. “Writing the perfect bio can be nerve-wracking, so we’ve introduced a new way to share bite-sized glimpses into your personality that can also be great conversation starters. With Text Prompts, we give our members a way to freshen up their profiles, highlight their personalities, and bring out their creative sides with just a few words. We hope that these will lead to more connections and spark conversations during a time when many of us are craving a change in routine and someone new to talk to,” the spokesperson adds.

When quizzed about the possibilities of video dating, the spokesperson reverts, “The pandemic has dissolved the lines between digital and physical lives. This cultural shift was already underway with our Gen Z members — but the pandemic is accelerating and broadening it to other generations. This new, deeply intertwined social life, has been a driving force of our product innovation for some time but is now more relevant than ever. In line with this, we look forward to bringing new experiences, including live video, to Tinder in the near future.”

Ramesh (name changed), a consultant from Chennai, opines that with everyone dealing with quarantine or lockdown situations, people are now opting dating apps and other apps to socialise. “This could be something which will last until the current situation is in play. Once people accept the new normal, things might go back to how it was. Though dating will take a new form it may never die,” Ramesh says.

Varsha (name changed) accepts that she is much more active on dating apps now because she has a lot of time on hand. “I have met quite a few interesting people on these platforms and we have great conversations. We plan to meet when everything gets back to normal. But I am not too sure about it because once we will be back to the grind, we’ll be busy with our daily routine,” Varsha smiles.

Life of Line (LOL) is a startup that organises speed dating events in major Indian cities. In speed dating, you will meet at least 15 people and spend about 8 minutes with each person. “For time being, our events are on hold because many venues are closed. We have been getting a lot of queries from our past clients asking us about our next outing. Even many suggested ‘online dating’, ‘zoom dating’, etc. But we are not taking it, ours is an offline concept of dating and we are sticking on to our speed dating events. We are ready to wait and see how things will change in the future,” says Sanya, operations head of LOL.