By EMMA DESIDERIO
As if finding love as a young person wasn’t already hard enough, anyone searching for a partner in the age of COVID-19 has to deal with the restrictions of life during a pandemic. Single people are using dating apps, getting tested for COVID-19 before seeing someone, going on masked or socially distanced outings, and going on virtual “dates.” But the restrictions haven’t been an obstacle. The pandemic has actually led to a large increase in the online dating scene, studies show.
More people than ever are using dating apps: according to an April 2020 survey from Statista, 31 percent of respondents were using dating apps “somewhat more” than they were prior to the pandemic, while 22 percent were using dating apps “much more.” Only 13 percent of people reported using dating apps much less than prior to the pandemic.
Online dating can help people feel more connected
“I think people are dying for physical, in person contact,” said Hannah Skimmons, 19, “but for now, it’s just nice to be able to talk to people.”
Skimmons is a college student living on campus for the Spring 2021 semester. She discussed how she used the apps for fun during the Spring 2020 lockdown. “I started using Tinder because I was bored and wanted to meet more people,” Skimmons said.
Skimmons discussed how her school has loosened restrictions now and made it easier to connect with people. “In the beginning, you couldn’t hang out with anyone or go on dates because you couldn’t meet new people,” said Skimmons. “Now we just have to wear masks and social distance, which means you can meet people for lunch or outside dates, which is where the dating apps are useful.”
Skimmons feels that dating apps have helped people feel more connected during lockdowns and throughout the social distancing guidelines.
The overall increase in dating app usage is not surprising when considering the mental effects of isolation. According to a survey by Medical News Today , 65 percent of people surveyed reported increased feelings of loneliness since the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic. In addition, 76 percent reported feeling anxiety, 58 percent reported a loss of feeling connected, and 78 percent reported symptoms of depression.
Online dating has its struggles, too
While many have felt that dating apps helped them feel more connected, dating during a pandemic is not easy, and not everyone has felt the same benefits.
For college student Hailey Middleton, 19, using dating apps like Tinder and Hinge during the pandemic has been underwhelming. She signed up for Tinder right before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, but hadn’t been on any dates and wasn’t actively searching for anything. During lockdown, Middleton started using the apps more out of loneliness and boredom.
“My dating experience hasn’t changed too much due to COVID-19,” Middleton said. “I was in contact with more people from using the dating apps, but I wasn’t able to meet up with anyone, so it didn’t really go anywhere for me.”
Middleton did end up meeting up with someone through Hinge. “I went on one date. We got takeout because there weren’t really any other options of what we could do. We ate outside near the beach since it was warm out that day, but it was awkward because we didn’t know what to do or where to go due to restrictions.”
Overall, Middleton has decided that dating apps aren’t worth the stress during these uncertain times. “I didn’t really like using the apps, it was just kind of weird. It’s just frustrating because COVID-19 has made it so much harder to meet people. Dating apps are fun sometimes, but they’re not really for me.”
Couples are creating their own versions of “online dating”
For those in relationships, isolation was difficult. For high school senior Nick Desiderio, lockdown was a strange way for his new relationship to start. He had only been dating his girlfriend for about a month when the stay-at-home order was put in place.
“We had to put in a lot of effort to make sure we stayed close, even though we couldn’t see each other,” said Desiderio. “We FaceTimed every day and texted each other constantly. Sometimes I dropped off stuff for her in her mailbox, like notes or gifts.”
Desiderio said that the distance was difficult at first, especially since they had just gotten into a relationship. “We even had a Zoom call birthday party for her with her family, which was weird because I hadn’t even met her family in person yet,” Desiderio said. However, they ultimately got through 3 months of social distancing.
“When we were able to see each other again, we mostly went to the beach or got takeout for dates, and we never hung out in groups of people. It was just nice to be able to see each other after doing long distance for the whole beginning of our relationship,” said Desiderio.
They are still facing many challenges, though. In January, Desiderio’s family had to quarantine for two weeks due to a COVID-19 exposure through his father’s work. During this time, he was unable to see his girlfriend to celebrate their one year anniversary together. “We had a virtual movie date, and it wasn’t too bad,” said Desiderio, noting the irony of celebrating their anniversary in quarantine when that is how their relationship started.
According to a study published by PLOS, quality of relationships directly correlates with quality of mental health during COVID-19. This means that maintaining a healthy relationship with your significant other or going on dates with someone you have a connection with can greatly improve your mental health.
While the struggles of dating during a pandemic are not yet behind us, there are many positives to continuing to make connections with people.
I liked the interesting facts in this article. For example, when you wrote that the pandemic has led to a larger increase in the dating scene. I believe the story can move forward with the angle of Nick’s past relationships, and how many people he dated in the past. Is he good or bad at relationships in general. Does Nick think his relationships could’ve lasted this long if there wasn’t a pandemic