Dating During Pandemic More Complicated As Singles Rely On Video Chats Before Meeting In Person
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Valentine's Day is right around the corner, but it's another holiday complicated by coronavirus.
CBS2's Nick Caloway took a look at the world of dating during a pandemic.
Love is in the air, but the virus might be, too, which makes dating tricky.
"I feel like there's not much opportunity to kind of meet people. And there's safety concerns," said Mike Prefer from Hoboken.
"It's really weird. It's hard to say, 'OK, let's go to a restaurant and be in a risky situation,'" said Jack Burns from Hoboken.
The virus has led many to try dating apps. Online dating surged during the shutdowns last spring and the trend has continued.
The online dating service eharmony launched its video dating service last April.
"It's a great way of getting to know someone before you're ready to take the step of meeting in person," said Kristen Berry from eharmony.
Helen Fisher, Match.com's chief science advisor, says those video chat dates help people weed out potential bad dates before meeting face to face.
"We're going to see much more meaningful first dates because singles are using this video chatting as a vetting process," Fisher said.
"Dating has honestly kind of been the thing that's been keeping me sane, just given I can't go to concerts, I can't go to bars," said Emmy Nicholson from Brooklyn.
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Nicholson, 26, said she's gotten more picky since the pandemic hit. A sticking point for her now is how careful a potential suiter is when it comes to being responsible and wearing a mask.
"I actually had one person I stopped seeing because they just didn't care. And I was like, 'OK if you don't care about everyone else, you're probably not going to care about me that much,'" Nicholson said.
Nicholson said she's still looking for love, but isn't in a hurry.
Meanwhile, the dating site experts say now is actually a pretty good time to be single. After all, Cupid doesn't take breaks for coronavirus.
CBS2's Nick Caloway contributed to this report.
