Building valuable, healthy relationships are central to living a positive and productive life. Bumble has helped change the way we interact, breaking down old-fashioned power dynamics and encouraging women to make the first move. Over the next month, we’re celebrating love. We’ve partnered with Bumble to highlight interesting ways to start a conversation, how to find love in the digital age, how to cultivate intimacy as we emerge from isolation and more. Alongside our helpful and inspiring content, we’ll also share stories of ‘the one that got away’ — because sometimes it’s the love before that leads you to The One.
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Every area of our lives have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the dating world, which has drastically changed in recent months. The old rules of dating have been left behind and a whole new set has replaced them thanks to factors like social distancing.
While people will still undoubtedly engage in casual dates and flings, the chance of catching or spreading the virus can make this a dangerous approach. So, you’ll have to adapt to this by creating intimacy with your match without the use of touch. According to sexologist, Chantelle Otten, you simply have to reframe what intimacy means to you in order to make this new style of dating work.
“So many believe we can only get intimacy through physical connection and touch, but there are many other ways to feel close and intimate to another person,” Otten told TheLatch—.
“We can create closeness through conversations, sharing stories, dreams, fantasies with our partners. We can send them food or small gifts to show them we are thinking of them.
“There are hundreds of different ways you could be giving and receiving intimacy from a social distance, just get creative!”
If you’re fresh out of iso and new to the dating game, it’s a rough time to be looking for love. But, all hope is not lost. Thanks to Bumble, you can safely start your socially distanced dating journey right now and these handy tips will help you on your way.
— Spend time on the app getting to know people
We all have to be a little more careful with our daily activities in regards to COVID-19, so there’s not as much of a rush to meet people IRL after meeting on a dating app.
According to data from Bumble, 86% of Australians are still interested in IRL dating but are leaning towards a new trend of “slow dating”. Iso has changed our habits and app users are wanting to slow down and get to know their matches on a deeper and more personal level before meeting in person.
Given you’re new to the virtual dating world, use this slow dating trend to your advantage and spend some quality time chatting to your matches.
— Utilise the video call feature on Bumble
In this trend of staying online for a longer period before meeting offline, make use of the video call feature in the app to help foster a connection. While chatting back and forth is great in the beginning, if you’re really clicking with someone, suggest a video call.
If you’re nervous about meeting your match in person, opting for video calls means you’ll still get to see their face and body language without the virus risk.
— Your chance of meeting someone offline probably isn’t great
We’re sorry to say that the chances of meeting someone in the wild are greatly reduced in the age of COVID-19. While people are heading out to restaurants and pubs to eat and drink, the chilly weather coupled with coronavirus means that many are still staying home.
So, you probably have a better chance of striking up a conversation virtually than at the bar. In fact, research from Bumble shows that almost half (45%) of Australian users think dating apps are more important to people now versus pre-coronavirus.
— Everyone is navigating the new normal of dating
The dating world you’re entering now is different from what it was a few months ago, so everyone is still finding their feet in this new normal — just like you. According to Bumble, 41% of users admitted to feeling unsure how to approach in-person dating and it’s not surprising.
If you’re feeling unsure about this too, Bumble has launched three new dating filters to make this a little easier to navigate. You can now put one of three dating badges on your profile: virtual, socially distanced and socially distanced with masks.
You can opt in to add this dating badge to your Bumble profile (it’s not mandatory) and you can also filter potential matches who have selected the same preferences — whether it’s virtual dates or IRL. This means you won’t have to have an awkward convo about meeting up when you’d rather stay online.
— Safety comes first
When you do eventually go on a face-to-face date, safety and hygiene must come first —this means asking consent before going in for a hug or kiss, which is something you should be doing COVID-19 or not.
No matter how romantic the situation might be, don’t plant a kiss on your date without their consent. Social distancing is still in force and until you and your date are comfortable with physical contact, mind their boundaries.
Bumble data has revealed that 33% of users are nervous about actually meeting up IRL for fear of catching or spreading COVID-19 and this fear is not misplaced. Remaining vigilant on hygiene and social distancing while dating is important.
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