Speed dating at a safe distance: And you thought dating was hard before coronavirus
Before the coronavirus pandemic rocked the world, singles had a plethora of options before them — virtually speaking. It could be overwhelming to even the most seasoned players.
But now, in the age of stay-at-home orders, masks and social distancing, single people are finding it even more challenging to find a love life, much less maintain one.
While we’ve heard adorable stories of people having romantic Zoom dates and finding “the love of their life” in a storybook-ending-worthy meet-cute, some dating companies are stepping in to help shine a light on dating during these dark times.
One such company, The Good Kind located in San Antonio, Texas, is holding a “Dating at a Social Distance” event. The tickets are limited to 20 men and 20 women — 21 and over only — and tickets are $10, according to KSAT.com.
“Dating during quarantine can be tough! So we’ve put together an evening of fun for singles, at a social distance, of course,” their EventBrite description reads.
Yes, speed dating is still a thing, even during a pandemic.
Back in March, Texas Monthly did a story on Austin residents signing up for a Zoom speed-dating night, hosted by a 28-year-old woman named Rosie Scanga, who set up 189 dates on the first night — 30 of which turned out to be matches.
One dater told Scanga that it felt like “a house party where you created the space for people to introduce themselves to each other,” reported Texas Monthly — virtually, of course.
Same goes for New York singles, who are turning to the virtual world in order to date.
“I really took it upon myself to try anything and everything,” said 23-year-old Upper East Sider Margarita Lyadova about turning to cyberspace for dating help to CBSNewYork. “I like to say I’ve tried it all.”
Lyadova, like others during the pandemic, have joined dating apps like Hinge, Tinder, Bumble — all of which had reported spikes in user interactions since March.
“What’s really cool is we’re seeing thousands of video dates every single day,” says eHarmony Chief Operating Officer Gareth Mandel to CBS. “We’ve had video dates last upwards of eight hours which is awesome and goes to show the power of comparability.”
CBS reported that the speed dating company CitySwoon has “gone from planning in-person events, to Zoom events.”
“It’s all organized online via our website,” their site states. “Which means CitySwoon speed dating events are much bigger than traditional speed dating. It’s fun and simple – you are matched live at the event to your dates and find each other via your smartphones. Your matches show up instantly when you log into CitySwoon on your phone. You are then matched to a handful of singles at the event. No random dating here, just best-matched speed dating.”
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Speed dating at a safe distance: And you thought dating was hard before coronavirus."