Dating Sites Are Trying To Contain The Quarantined Singles In Your Area
Among the numerous things, that we took for granted, decimated by COVID-19 is the casual sex scene. Gone are the days of Netflix and chill, since there's nothing chill about catching a fever. Thus back are the old Victorian days of talking to someone for three months before you even get to hold hands.
According to online dating sites, a pandemic isn't the only thing that's in the air -- so is romance, as DM sliding between singles has exploded. After all, everyone now has something to talk about (the plague), has a common interest (surviving the plague) and an attention-grabbing opening line ("How about that plague huh?). Also, thanks to the quarantine, it's never been easier or cheaper to be a romantic -- with even half-assed acts like simultaneously pushing play on the same black-and-white movie in different apartments, or Venmo'ing someone a couple of bucks for a bottle of wine are now being reported on as heights of courtship ne'er seen since the days of Casanova.
But what happens when we get to the part in every Harlequin novel where all the frustrated lovers throw caution to the wind and break the rules to be together for but one mucus-y kiss? To contain that most dangerous disease vector of all, horny singles in your area, online dating sites are already promoting several streaming features, quarantine-friendly dating tips and safe sexting practices, all with the intent to keep their star-crossed lovers at home chatting on their sites.
Meanwhile, Tinder has gone one step further, encouraging long, long-distance relationships by making its international matching feature free of charge. Now, users can flirt and chat with "those that are experiencing this same situation in different geographies during an unprecedented period of isolation." And if that means our post-quarantine airport experience will be even more terrible thanks to the thousands of rom-com reunions at the arrival gates, that's but a small price to pay for safety.
For more weird tangents and excerpts from his rom-quarantine movie script, do follow Cedric on Twitter.
