Dating at a Distance
In a time of social distancing and remote communication, being an extrovert is more difficult. I, along with others in my age group, downloaded dating apps to fill that void and meet new people. Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge granted me access to the outside world during the initial quarantine and continues to let me connect with others experiencing the same pandemic. During this time, I’m able to socialize and meet new people in my area and out of my area, whom I wouldn’t have met before. My interaction with the people I met through these apps was both platonic and romantic. I wasn’t going to allow the distance to prevent me from meeting new people, making friends, or even dating. My social life was now remote and I was ready to adapt.
Netflix Party allows me to share my Netflix stream with my date. I set up a ring light to try to look my best on camera.
One of the best things about meeting new people online is learning and hearing stories from different people and how they’re experiencing the pandemic. One of my matches was telling me about her struggles in her new career as an elementary school teacher.
For the most part, my experiences were positive. My matches held different backgrounds academically, vocationally, and geographically, so I was able to gain perspective of how life was like for others who weren’t living in New Jersey. One of the most memorable interactions was with a teacher who started her career in the middle of the pandemic in New York. We discussed her difficulties in adapting to remote learning for her students and creating a lesson plan for children who didn’t even have access to the internet. Other people I talked to had their own interesting stories to share about the people they were before and during the coronavirus outbreak.
I kept track of my new network by adding my matches’ cities in my world clock so I knew what our time differences were.
After the pandemic started, dating apps installed a travel feature to their design, which allowed me to be less restricted to the tri-state area. I met people from all across the U.S and got to learn how their state was handling the situation. These long-distance conversations were completely new to me; it was like some new version of having penpals. As my network across the U.S. grew, I added new cities to my world clock app so I knew what timezones my matches were in. The opportunity to make friends out of state during a time when I had to stay home was exciting to me.
The other positive experience of socializing through dating apps were the actual online dates. Like school and work, dates also went remote. Remote dating worked around some of the obstacles and awkwardness of in-person first dates. Netflix Party allowed me to Facetime and share my Netflix stream with my date. Although this was an ideal workaround for people who were uncomfortable meeting in person, the lack of intimacy required more patience than expected if I were to continue talking to the person.
The initial phase of quarantine moved school and work online, at the cost of our usual social interactions. I fulfilled my need for socialization through dating apps. The online adventure became a hobby for me and I intend to continue even after the pandemic is over. The ability to meet new people anywhere in the world and hear their stories and share my own is an amazing discovery during a time of social distancing.