Dating in lockdown: Finding new ways to connect when you physically can’t

"The need to connect in a crisis is necessary," she tells Her. And digital chemistry there may very well be. According to Julie, most people using dating apps have probably already entered into some form of new long-distance relationship since the coronavirus pandemic began - it just may not be a romantic one yet. There are different ways of navigating dating in lockdown. Some people have been video calling. Others have been Housepartying. Some have been planning intricate dates they'll go on when this is all over; restaurant picked, cocktails chosen, time TBC. At the beginning of the outbreak, a friend of mine went on a social distancing date. They met in the city centre, waked around the vacant streets, and waved goodbye at the end. No touching, no risk. The chat was, unsurprisingly, almost exclusively coronavirus related, but the date itself was apparently fine. It wasn't getting drunk in a bar, but it was something. Julie Spira With the current lockdown measures in place, even a social distancing date such as the above would be too irresponsible. How could you justify walking beside a person you had never met before now, when grandparents aren't even permitted to hold their grandchildren? You couldn't. The risk would be too high, the guilt too severe. And while some may simple resort to a few months break from their romantic lives, others are still powering on with intimacy and relationship building. There are just new ways of doing it now. Julie points to the usual suspects when it comes to quarantine connections - Netflix Party, Zoom, and FaceTime have all become regular parts of our weeks, whether we're part of the dating scene or not. But Julie says that people have also been creating their own unique ways of finding matches during lockdown. Some have been updating their profiles to read: "Covid-19 free." Others have been posting photos of themselves with packs of toilet roll in a bid to reel in the desperate. Other people have simply been making the most out of their video chats; so much so that Julie has already been coaching some of her clients ahead of their first video dates. "I call it the 'dress rehearsal,' where I go on a virtual date with them, and then provide a critique so they’re date-ready for when they meet someone they’ve been chatting with," she says. "The fact is relationships starting now during this period of social distancing. "While it feels like the world has completely stopped, there's no reason to push the pause button on finding love."