In-Depth | Vax & Dine: how post-pandemic dating will usher a new age of love

<p>Romance and relationships are complicated affairs on the most regular&nbsp;of&nbsp;days! So, what happens when you add a deadly pandemic into the mix?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>When&nbsp;Covid-19&nbsp;mandated&nbsp;global lockdowns, many couples were left stranded&nbsp;while&nbsp;others were forced to cohabit together even if they didn&rsquo;t want to. Things got fairly complicated for singles too,&nbsp;as&nbsp;dating became an online-only affair.&nbsp;But as they say, love always finds a way.&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>The rise of virtual dating&nbsp;</strong></h2> <p>Online dating apps became the safe haven for singles and even the unhappily cooped up.&nbsp;2020 was Tinder&rsquo;s busiest ever, with&nbsp;11% more Swipes and 42% more matches per member.&nbsp;Tinder&rsquo;s parent Match Group that owns 60% of the dating app market, reported a 15% increase in new subscribers.</p> <p><strong>SEE MORE&nbsp;<a href=https://www.editorji.com/story/love-in-the-time-of-covid-demand-high-for-condoms-rolling-paper-1609261286157>Love in the time of Covid: demand high for condoms &amp; rolling paper</a></strong></p> <p>It was a big year for&nbsp;other&nbsp;relationship&nbsp;apps&nbsp;as well.&nbsp;Not So Arranged&nbsp;launched in Jan 2020 as&nbsp;a platform for&nbsp;serious&nbsp;relationships, joining&nbsp;the&nbsp;likes of&nbsp;TrulyMadly&nbsp;and&nbsp;Aisle. But even the controversial extra-marital affair site&nbsp;Gleeden&nbsp;crossed 13 lakh subscribers in India during the&nbsp;Covid year.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>All in all, the&nbsp;quarantine&nbsp;loneliness&nbsp;accelerated a new normal,&nbsp;pushing people&nbsp;to find&nbsp;ways to connect more, come together for more reasons and be more&nbsp;experimental&nbsp;with&nbsp;dating apps.&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>The concerns&nbsp;for safety&nbsp;</strong></h2> <p>Trusting other people even on a good day is a big feat but the virus has made safety concerns even more urgent.</p> <p>With&nbsp;governments&nbsp;asking&nbsp;people&nbsp;to avoid casual sex with strangers&nbsp;and even the World Health Organisation (WHO) urging people to resist their party instincts,&nbsp;the pandemic has made quite a case in favour of monogamy.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>SEE MORE&nbsp;<a href=https://www.editorji.com/story/who-experts-says-young-people-need-to-rethink-partying-habits-1596719037129>WHO says young people need to rethink partying habits</a></strong></p> <p>As in-person dating returns, people are&nbsp;using their bios to flaunt their vaccination status. In fact,&nbsp;38% of Indians said in a Bumble survey that they wouldn&rsquo;t go on a date or have sex with un-vaccinated folk.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>The future of post-pandemic dating&nbsp;</strong></h2> <p>72 per cent of single Indians surveyed by&nbsp;dating app&nbsp;Bumble think it&rsquo;s possible to fall in love with someone they&rsquo;ve only met online.&nbsp;This is proof that digital dates are here to stay.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Digital Dates:&nbsp;</strong>40% of Tinder users and&nbsp;48% of Indians on Bumble would actually prefer first dates to&nbsp;remain&nbsp;virtual. They&nbsp;deem it a safe and&nbsp;low-pressure way to get a sense of someone&nbsp;and will&nbsp;continue using video chat even as date spots re-open.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Stay&nbsp;Authentic:&nbsp;</strong>All that time at home has brought upon a new sense of perspective for young people. This has pushed people to be more&nbsp;honest&nbsp;and&nbsp;authentic&nbsp;about who they are, how they look, and what they&rsquo;re going through.&nbsp;This need for meaningful connections&nbsp;is&nbsp;here to stay.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Clear Boundaries:&nbsp;</strong>The word &lsquo;boundaries&rsquo; is being used more than ever in bios. A&nbsp;YPulse&nbsp;survey said that&nbsp;over 17% of daters discussed safety precautions and consent for physical touch before meeting up.&nbsp;This practice will continue and is expected to become an integral part of modern intimacy.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Neighbourly&nbsp;Love:&nbsp;</strong>Distance may make the heart grow fonder but we have all had enough of it by now.&nbsp;Even as work from anywhere becomes more common, singles would prefer to date people who live close by.&nbsp;Use of geolocation on apps and mentions of the word &lsquo;moving&rsquo; in bios skyrocketed in 2020.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>SEE MORE&nbsp;<a href=https://www.editorji.com/story/people-who-meet-on-dating-apps-have-long-term-commitment-study-1609487197505>People who meet on dating apps have long term commitment: study&nbsp;</a></strong></p> <p>As the virus waves come and go,&nbsp;its&nbsp;hard to say if a delayed love life will cause a&nbsp;post-pandemic dating boom.&nbsp;But it is safe to say that&nbsp;romance and dating have definitely changed forever.&nbsp;</p>