Article written by Kendra Beltran

For those who have endured being single in 2020, it is going to get a whole lot more interesting as time progresses because the dating game has been changed whether you like it or not and it is all thanks to something you have probably heard of by now, COVID-19? Yeah, that. The global pandemic has affected a cascade of aspects in our everyday lives, even dating but what is to come from these changes?

Thinking back to January and February 2020, you were probably deep in the barracks of online dating, several apps going at one time, juggling a handful of DMs, trying to choose which one to fuck then and which to save for later. Oh, those were the days, right? Now, while people are still utilizing dating apps, many are refraining from hooking up for safety reasons. People do not want to catch what we have come to know as the ‘rona.

With bars and clubs out of the picture at the moment, many have been left relying heavily on the wild wild west of the internet, and when the world opens back up - be prepared because dating offline will change as well. We will have gotten used to being apart that it may take some time to recondition ourselves to the idea of a strange new person being not only in our living space but our lives because for months (and hopefully not years) we have lived distanced.

Hooking up with a random stranger was fine at the start of 2020, but now and going forward - people are and will continue to be cautious because the truth of the matter is, people, lie on those apps on the time. So what is to say they are not lying when they say they have been quarantining and social distancing as much as you? Exactly. One hookup with an asymptomatic person could lead you to not only catching ‘rona but then passing it along to any loved one you come into contact with thereafter.

Random hookups are going to take a break for a long time, or at least until we have a vaccine and in the best case scenario - a cure. Which in the long run could shift dating. I mean, our parents’ and grandparents’ generations were not into getting the dick and then peacing out. Hell no, grandpa courted grandma, and then at 16, they were married on a farm or whatever. Our parents were a little more sexually free, but it is the current generation that pushed sex-positive into the forefront. So with hooking up with randoms out of the question for many right now, and for who knows how long, perhaps we will take a few steps back and truly begin getting to know someone before we go down on them.

Huge events have always had a way of shifting our everyday life. WWII led to women entering the workforce more than ever, 9/11 changed the way we travel, and COVID-19...We thought it was only going to affect how much toilet paper one household needed at a singular time but we’re continuously seeing how this global pandemic is changing our reality and future every day--dating included.

Until there is a vaccine and the world is safe to roam for dick again though, people will have to get used to getting to know the person they connect with on these apps. Which in hindsight could lead to great things. Taking your time and getting to know someone before you jump on their dick could lead to you discovering what type of person you want to be with for more than one night of passion. Plus, you could always take those conversational skills learned from your apps and apply them to real-life dating, when the world resumes functioning normally.

September 24, 2020 — Andrew Christian