“It’s cuffing season, but couples quarantine season” Big cat Netflix documentaries and viral TikTok dances might entertain us and keep us occupied, but will these keep the loneliness epidemic at bay? During a time when many singles are separated from friends and family, dating apps provide another layer of human connection, a sense of normality. But in times of crisis, people need distraction. Given the rapid spread of the virus, and the disarray that comes with it, it might surprise you that people have the bandwidth to contemplate dating. It’s cuffing season, but couples quarantine season,” says the Toronto-based sales director. Like in the fall when you’re moving into winter. People want to stay in on dates, rather than go out. Mike, a 37-year-old who uses Hinge, has referred to this surge in online dating as a new “cuffing season.” Over the past week, users have observed an increase in matches. While these warnings might have led to daters canceling in-person dates, it hasn’t deterred online matchmaking. Bumble released an epidemiologist-led guide to dating. Tinder issued an in-app card encouraging social distancing and made Tinder Passport - a feature that allows people to match in any location - free for all users. Major dating apps have been responding to coronavirus in their own ways. As coronavirus sweeps the globe, dating apps and daters are adjusting to the new normal. Plus we now have a more practical push to do our romantic bidding online: a pandemic. This modern format might have been previously scoffed at, but over the past decade, skeptical attitudes toward online dating have relaxed. Nothing beats meeting in real life, but in the beginning, wouldn’t you rather spend two minutes on a video chat than risk an entire hour on drinks and discomfort? Chemistry can be difficult to recognize over text, but during a virtual face-to-face it’s easier to detect. That’s not to say I didn’t find it refreshing. It’s (unsurprisingly) nothing like messaging, where there’s ample time to tailor responses and run an entry-level background check through reverse image search. I’m no stranger to dating apps, but I found video speed dating slightly awkward. Pandemic or not, at least those who are single and looking have a virtual place to get their fix of first-time jitters. He said the video format felt more personal than “Swipey McSwipey” and that it might be the future of dating, given that we’ll all be “inside for a while.” It was pragmatic but, in a sense, hopeful. Romance wasn’t exactly in the pixels for us, but he delivered some hot takes on the platform. While I sat upright in a fresh turtleneck, James lay motionless and hoodie-clad on his bed - comfortable, confident, and entirely unfazed by this confronting matchmaking format. He’d been on League Live for two months, and boy, did it show. Due to the number of people self-quarantining, the San Francisco-based company has rolled out live dating events in 13 more cities, as well as adding Wednesday nights. The feature allows users to have a series of two-minute video chats every Sunday night, right from the phone app. Last December, the dating app the League rolled out League Live, a video speed-dating platform. While this earnest attempt at looking alive felt like an interview to me, I figured the 3,000-plus users in my area were probably there for something more enjoyable. Positioning the webcam at eye level was said to establish kinship, but really I wanted to avoid shadows and resemble someone other than Lurch for the first time during quarantine. The tripod was a result of my panic-Googling “video interview techniques” in the sweaty minutes before the virtual event. When I’d first heard of video speed dating, I didn’t imagine it would involve quite so much DIY. Five days into self-quarantining, I found myself propped up in front of my phone, which was in turn propped up on a makeshift tripod of books, a footrest, and a crowning box of Kleenex.
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