海角大神

The coronavirus pandemic has turned lives upside down, with stay-at-home orders shifting relationships with family and friends in major ways. But what has this meant for individuals looking for love?

Many men and women across the world are continuing to date during COVID-19 鈥� even if that means coming up with creative solutions to meeting new people, like going on Zoom dates or watching movies at the same time in two separate apartments.

Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.

The shift away from dining in restaurants or going out has been frustrating, but those in the thick of it are finding things they like about this new approach to dating. There鈥檚 more time spent chatting on the phone, and less opportunity to 鈥減eacock鈥� and show off. For some, it鈥檚 as if romance is getting a throwback to the style of Jane Austen novels,聽with heartfelt correspondence and a slower pace.

Although there鈥檚 a sense of anticipation and hope for the day dinner and a movie 鈥� in person聽and聽in public 鈥� is on the table once again, dating is getting a reboot.

Note: This audio story was designed to be heard. We strongly encourage you to experience it with your ears, but we understand that is not an option for everybody. For those who are unable to listen, we have provided a transcript of the story. (If you鈥檙e reading this off our website and don鈥檛 see an audio player, click here to access the audio player.)

Audio Transcript:

[Saxophone music]

Whitney Eulich:聽Dating has turned into a bit of a spectacle over the past 20 years. From reality TV show classics like 鈥淭he Bachelor鈥� [clip from 鈥淭he Bachelor鈥漖聽to the spread of online dating sites and the so-called 鈥渟wipe culture.鈥� And of course, more recently there鈥檚 the now seemingly prophetic Netflix series 鈥淟ove is Blind鈥澛�[clip from 鈥淟ove is Blind鈥� trailer].

Jessica Mendoza: But thanks to coronavirus, dating is moving even further online and onto our screens.聽

Whitney: Because, you know, as it turns out, essentially stripping human contact from our day-to-day lives transforms how we connect with each other.聽

Jess: My name is Jessica Mendoza, and I鈥檓 the multimedia reporter for 海角大神.

Whitney: And I鈥檓 Whitney Eulich, the Monitor鈥檚 Latin America correspondent.聽We wanted to know: How are people navigating this uncharted territory?

Jess:聽So we asked a bunch of single men and women, and here鈥檚 a bit of what they had to say.

[Music transition into interview montage]

Whitney: Obviously all kinds of relationships are changing right now, you know it鈥檚 not just the romantic variety. I am here with a toddler who is missing her best friend who happens to live across the hall. Writing love letters and yelling to each other from the windows. And, it鈥檚 just breaking my heart that they cant be together right now. It鈥檚 been two months.聽

Jess: Whitney, that鈥檚 one of the saddest things I鈥檝e ever heard. And I don鈥檛 have any kids, but I do have lots of single friends. And I feel like on my end, everyone seems to be asking: Is this a good time to embrace being single? Or do they keep trying to date? And if so, I mean, how?聽

It鈥檚 this kind of relationship that we鈥檙e exploring today. How has COVID-19 complicated the picture for folks who are looking for love?

Whitney: So, we talked to about half a dozen men and women. And we found that while everyone鈥檚 going about this moment in their own way, there are these shared threads of experiences. This willingness people seem to be demonstrating to embrace the unfamiliar and a new appreciation for connecting 鈥� even if it鈥檚 in ways that are a little out of the box.聽聽

Jess: Two of the women we spoke to really drove that home for us. One of them is Leah Hughes. She lives in San Francisco. She had been active on the online dating scene for about five years before Coronavirus hit. And she realized pretty quickly that social distancing was going to have a pretty big impact on her dating life.聽聽

Whitney: The other woman we spoke to was just super busy with her career: She has an online business, just your regular social media influencer. Her name is Beige Ojai, she lives in Maryland. Dating was not even on her radar. 聽But social isolation made her realize just how, well, isolated she was.聽

Jess: So, naturally, she joined a web-only dating show ...聽

Whitney: It鈥檚 called LoveCast ...聽

闯别蝉蝉:听Where the public gets to vote for couples to go on blind dates with each other on video chat (which sounds like my personal nightmare). Each episode airs footage from the dates of the chosen couples. Beige happened to be in Episode 2. They鈥檝e got a host who interviews them about their experience dating each other. And of course there鈥檚 a live chat feature so viewers can comment.聽

Whitney: It turns out that it was interesting. Both women have already pinpointed some dos and don鈥檛s when dating from a distance. And, believe it or not, there are things they enjoy and they hope endure once their relationships move back into the offline world.聽

Jess: We started by asking the two women about what it was like when this all started. How did they handle that first switch to social distance dating? Here鈥檚 Leah first, then Beige:聽

Whitney: As this situation dragged on, some of the newness started to wear off. There are still quirks that they鈥檙e both grappling with, but they鈥檝e both pinpointed benefits of this new format, as well.聽

Jess: Clearly they鈥檙e both finding ways to make this crazy situation work. But they also learned that there are aspects of dating in person that you really can鈥檛 replace.聽

Whitney: Beige is trying to come up with creative ways to test that chemistry 鈥� from a safe distance, of course.

Jess: Watch out, we鈥檙e getting to Whitney鈥檚 favorite part.聽

Whitney: It is!

Whitney: I love the idea of a grocery store parking lot date.聽

Jess: I know you do. What do you like so much about it?聽

Whitney: I just think that it鈥檚 very on brand for coronavirus. And it really just seems to get to this idea that humans can be so creative and adaptable in times like these.聽

Jess: Right. And that actually leads us straight to our big question for Leah and Beige.

[Music]

Whitney: I have to say, I think Leah鈥檚 upper-right hand corner advice is actually quite applicable far beyond online dating!聽

Jess: That鈥檚 what you took away from all of that?

Whitney: I鈥檓 starting to notice more 鈥� well, it鈥檚 not a flirt face, but my very serious reporter face and 鈥� I also would like to unsee that! But in all seriousness, both these women show humanity has such an amazing capacity for adapting and being open to new experiences.

Jess: Yeah, it takes courage to put yourself out there no matter what the situation is. And it just shows that the desire to connect is such a part of who we are that not even a global pandemic is going to stop people from trying to find and maintain relationships and build them and maintain them. That feels good to remember these days.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this story, help us make more. Subscribe to the Monitor at csmonitor.com/subscribe.聽

Whitney: And let us know if you have any stories about love and relationships you want to share with us. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Jess: This story was produced and hosted by me, Jessica Mendoza.

Whitney: And me, Whitney Eulich.

Jess: It was edited by Samantha Laine Perfas and Kim Campbell, with sound design by Tim Malone. Produced by 海角大神, copyright 2020.