Longer periods of virtual dating may just become the norm to screen prospective partners. — Dreamstime/TNS
“We hugged at the end – even the hug made me kind of nervous,” Chao, a 37-year-old independent financial adviser in New York, recalls that date in early June. “We are more bullish on dating than we were when we initiated coverage on Match in early June,” said Morgan Stanley analyst Lauren Cassel, citing higher engagement and pent-up demand for human interaction during this period for Match Group Inc.app last quarter during the pandemic than analysts tracking the company had expected.
Still, there’s a limit to video dates, said Khadijah Diaz, 28, who has been using Bumble, Tinder, Hinge and a few Facebook dating groups for Black people in Houston. Concerns about the pandemic continue to linger, prompting the New Hope, Pennsylvania-based company to form a “Safer Dating Advisory Board” to provide dating guidelines from health experts. It’s also considering adding a filter for users to opt in for virtual dating-only, in order to avoid a mismatch of expectations.