Quarantine and social distancing may not seem romantic, but there is some evidence that some people are thinking about dating more than before.
Tinder recorded its highest sweep day this year, while Bumble crossed the 100 million user milestone. Some apps, like Hinge, have new features, like in-app video chat, to help people connect online.
Dr Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and chief science adviser at Match.com, has been studying love and relationships for 40 years and she told TODAY's Jenna Bush Hager that the pandemic has led to a major shift in the applications of met.
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“This pandemic has led to more conversations, on all dating sites in fact, more meaningful conversations, more self-disclosure, more intimacy (and) less anxiety about sex and money. She said Monday TODAY with Hoda and Jenna, adding that she thinks the pandemic may have improved the modern dating world for this reason.
Lateif Killingsworth, a Tinder user, said he had had "more authentic conversations" since the start of the pandemic.
“If we are swinging on top of each other, considering that we cannot meet, it has to be something more,” he said.
It's not just popular apps that are seeing the number of users increase. New companies, such as Daniel Ahmadizadeh's “Quarantine Together” SMS service, are also seeing success, with more than 30 users worldwide signing up for the service. Users receive a text message at 000:18 p.m. each evening to ask if they have washed their hands; if they answer "yes", they are matched with another user for a 00 minute private conversation.
“With our experience, there are no ghosts,” he told Jenna. “When we text to see if you've washed your hands, what we really find is that you're available for a chat. So when you answer, we know you're on the phone. ”
The texting service does not include any photos, limiting what Ahmadizadeh calls "superficial judgment" and instead focusing on real, authentic conversations. At the end of the half hour, users are given a video / audio link, where they can continue the conversation hopefully.
“We do all the work and provide a positive experience to have a human interaction with someone in the world,” Ahmadizadeh said. “It's really amazing how, at the end of the day, what we really want is this ability to empathize with someone else, to be vulnerable with someone else. and to have someone really connect with us. "
People don't just log into apps. Some singles, like Allison Kalleauh, got creative and took to social media to try and find a date. Her two sisters created an Instagram game show called "Date My Sister," where they used mutual friends to find "competitors" to go on virtual dates on Zoom.
“(Zoom dating) is better than apps,” Kalleauh said. “Because you can't hide behind a filtered photo. "
Kalleauh told Jenna that after the short virtual sessions, she had two socially distant dates. While neither of the men worked, she said the experience was at least entertaining.
Michaela Farrell, who lives in New York, has also tried the speed dating game. Instead of using social media, she set up a table and chairs in a Brooklyn park with a sign that read "Social Distance Speed Dating Me." In just a few hours, she took part in over 30 speed dates.
“People would walk by there and they would look at the sign and care about it, and like, would smile,” Farrell said. "My friend Michael, he pretended to be some kind of butler, and he would have said, 'Hey, do you want to go on a date with M?' And then they'd be like, "Yeah, okay, whatever. And we were going on a two-minute date in the park. "
Farrell said the dates were "really, really beautiful and amazing" and a huge relief after weeks of isolation.
“I work in the hospitality industry and in the theater industry, so… I'm so used to seeing new people every day,” she said. “Looking in people's eyes and having a random conversation with someone was so nice and important. "
Fisher said that no matter how you try to make a connection during the pandemic, the dating game only gets better.
“Romantic love is a very powerful human brain system,” she says. “It evolved millions of years ago and it can be triggered instantly. But the vast majority of people are stuck at home… And what we're really seeing the rise of is video chatting, and you get to know someone through video. chat. You can see the way they smile and laugh. You can see their background. You can talk to them for periods of time. You will increase self-disclosure and transparency and believe this will lead to more stable relationships. "
