Finding Love In The Time Of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic and the shutdowns and stay-at-home mandates that followed made finding love even more difficult. Now that we are getting back to some sense of normalcy it’s important to take a deeper look into how the pandemic changed the way we see dating and relationships. Experts believe that some shifts in the dating world will remain, while others will be happily tossed aside. The pandemic will have long-lasting effects on our ability to find our person, from politics, vaccines fears, and differing opinions on how to handle masks it seems that our pools for dating are getting smaller and smaller.

“If the virus doesn’t take you out, can I?”

This is a real, albeit terrible, pickup line that went viral on social media. The struggles that single people faced during the pandemic are often overlooked when discussing the effects of covid-19 on American culture. For Gen-Z, the pandemic forced them to move further into their phones and social media culture. Less and less of them feel comfortable meeting new people and have in-person social interactions. Dating apps are taking advantage of this shift by adding features like facetime dating and long stretches of chatting.

Single millennials, the only generation to have grown up with the internet but can still remember a time without it, are finding this shift even more difficult. They don’t feel comfortable living in a completely virtual space, and they seem to have more fear of spreading the virus, most likely because their parents being older.

The Divide Deepens

Whereas a few years ago, two people with differing political beliefs could find each other and fall in love, now it seems nearly impossible. Far-right conservatives, anti-vaxxers, and those who believe that masks don’t help stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic aren’t able to date outside of their group. This makes dating difficult because the pool of people in which one can find partners is shrinking. Not to mention their belief systems are being challenged far less. On popular dating apps like Hinge and Tinder, many are putting “must be vaccinated” in their bios. Although this of course makes sense in keeping ourselves safe, we can negate the consequences and challenges it brings to finding love in this difficult time.

Casual Dating Is A Thing Of The Past

Before the pandemic, many young people would date multiple partners at the beginning of the relationships, but with the fears of the virus, now people are asked to be honest and become exclusive far earlier in the dating process. This leads to people feeling like they have less choice in relationships and settle down a lot faster than they would have a few years ago.

There Is Hope!

Even though what we’ve covered is true, your mindset on dating can remain positive. Finding people who can help you shift your view of dating is possible, and it may be necessary during this time. Many young people have turned to life and dating coaches to help them remain positive and navigate the new challenges of finding love in the time of covid-19.