Video Dating During COVID-19
COVID-19 has altered our lives and the dating landscape in unexpected ways. To respond to stay-at-home orders and the need for social distancing, dating sites/apps that had not initially included a video component began to encourage users to “meet” in a virtual format. With little information about when things would return to what we had previously been accustomed to, a lot of the conventional dating wisdom went out to the window. For example, exchanging a few messages and then getting to the in-person date was not always feasible or something people felt comfortable and safe doing. Instead, many daters began their profile search, and then either moved to the more conventional in-app messaging or engaged in a virtual video dating experience. A series of mini-studies regarding perceptions of video dating and the connections being fostered was conducted focusing on Hily dating app users over the past several months. While it will take some time to determine just how long-lasting the changes in dating behaviors as a result of the pandemic will be, the data highlighted many interesting findings about peoples’ perceptions of video dating and forming connections.
An exploratory study was conducted during summer 2020, including 1,641 male respondents and 770 female respondents between the ages of 18 and 35. Of this sample, 47.37% of respondents felt that the best way to learn about others is through in-app messaging and 40.94% believed that reading profiles was the best approach. Only 10.83% felt that video chatting was the most effective way to learn about others, and the rest selected exchanging emails. A majority of respondents (61%) felt that the video dating feature was the best replacement for actual dating, when compared with the other aforementioned options (in-app messaging and emailing). Therefore, it is possible that in the early stages of finding a match, a time in which you are examining the dating pool and reading through the profiles, message exchanges are much more important. However, when it comes to the actual date, the interactive video component is valuable in creating that experience.
Of the respondents, 76.81% felt that the best way to create a connection with a person is through messaging them on the app, while only 21.32% felt that the connection was created through video dating. The rest selected emailing their matches. Therefore, while video dating is used to replace the date, it may not help to create a strong bond. While more research is needed, perhaps people are more accustomed to the format of messaging on dating apps, and find it easier to communicate and create the connection using this feature, compared to having the pressure of connecting via video. While video mimics a date (according to the poll), perhaps people are less likely to create a connection this way because they feel uncomfortable asking those deeper, more intimate questions when meeting over the computer without meeting in person first (at least during the initial phases of dating).
Whether or not people continue to turn to the video feature in a post-COVID world is unclear. However, it has offered a unique way to bridge the gap during this time, allowing us to connect when we were required to be physically distant.
by Marisa T. Cohen Ph.D., CPLC