As I watched my phone vibrate at “It’s a match” on Tinder, a coy smile and an excitement of nerves were running throughout my body. After a few days of texting over on Tinder, we decided to go on a virtual date via Zoom, an online video conferencing platform. Since, I’m someone that normally goes on a real date, this zoom date sounded rather farfetched to my conventional personality. I tried to recollect my last meeting with someone virtually and the closest I could get to was a video call with my friend who lives back in New Zealand, while I was here in Dubai. Despite the network challenges initially, It seemed a controlled conversation. Therefore this time, I decided to do something different, put on a cute dress, some light make up and went on this zoom date. It went just fine, except the anxiety of doing everything online which kicked in a few minutes into our zoom call. What happened next is just a series of the stuff I’ve realized about dating in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the novel Corona Virus arrived, I was a happy go lucky, confident and adventurous woman, that looked forward to meeting a new person in the hope to create some great memories. However, in times of crisis, I noticed so many underlying issues with the concept of dating. A video call with someone can help you understand them to a certain extent, however the lack of physical contact has meant much less. I certainly miss those subtle gentle touch games we played where our shoulders almost rubbed across by mistake, those hand gestures and casual hugs. In addition to our discussions on who’d pay the bill, or we’d split. our conversations had a drop of humor. What I didn’t realize was that all of this was a new way of normal. The challenges I and many others face now, though, particularly millennials and Gen Zers, have often been fodder for humor. Instagram users are creating accounts dedicated to suggesting timely pickup lines like, “If the virus doesn’t take you out, can I?” On Twitter, many have compared the situation with the Netflix reality series Love Is Blind, in which contestants talk to each other in isolated pods, unable to see or touch their dates. But for singles who are yet to find partners , the uncertainty prevails Fewer couples decide to start families, isolation means the loss of that portion of life most young adults count on to forge grown-up friendships and romantic relationships. Although we had a great laugh with the casual Corona based flirting that surrounds, the dating landscape in quarantine undoubtedly presents an unprecedented situation for most singles today. Moreover, I find myself wondering, if the person I was meeting through webcam at the comfort of my home is going to be the same in real life. Even though, texting has been around ever since I started going on dates, its evolution in these times has been quite significant. The casual small talk is actually turning into what I may call quality conversation between two unknowns. With a flood of insightful conversations over chat or video conferencing, dating is transforming itself to match with the needs of this day. It’s also definitely helped my wallet. I usually split for the first date but in fact I’m saving hundreds by not going out, a factor no doubt high in the minds of many online daters as unemployment soars. Although, the constant fear of ghosting, people standing up on virtual dates, cheating survives, it’s certainly difficult to gauge a truer or rather more candid version of the dating situation. It may depend entirely on the person you’re with and one would hope that people would be slightly more considerate in times of a pandemic isolated at their homes. Though the risk prevails, taking that chance is probably the best thing you can do for yourself. If you look at it from an evolutionary perspective, for millions of years we had tactile contact like hugs and cuddles. Every relationship has been built and held together by complicated nonverbal language, beginning with parent and child. It’s part of our social fabric. I worry about what happens when as a society we lose those modes of communication for a time. I wonder what it would be like to carry a sanitizer instead of the casual gifts that we take on special occasions. What the future would look like is blurry at the moment or even not so promising for the majority of us. Unless you are the lucky committed, married or live in couple that gets to spend time together instead of staying socially distant in quarantine. Perhaps, it’s time we switched gears and changed our priorities, rethought our relationships, and redefined the connotations of dating online. So, do yourself a favor, create a tinder account, meet that new person and go on that new journey again. It’s obviously not going to be as smooth as it was in the past, but it does leave no stone unturned. Grab your sanitizer, your smartphone and your most quirky Corona pickup line and make that move today. Previously on Netflix & chill, it’s time to adopt the isolation pill.
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