Following on from my previous dating posts I thought it might be fun to think about what’s in store for the dating world in 2021. With a vaccine now approved here in the U.K and the roll out already underway for the most vulnerable in our society, there is a little light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to finding love post lockdown! Here are my predictions for how 2020 has changed the dating game and what I think 2021 has in store for us…
We will invest more time in people
Pre-covid dating was practically an olympic sport, I have girlfriends who were seeing a different guy for drinks nearly every day of the week! Now that’s great and I personally think when you’re in the right headspace to get out there and meet someone, you should date and have fun (and get some amazing first date disaster stories!) but lockdown has definitely made us all slow down a bit, we are more conscious of how valuable our time is and how investing in relationships, be it family/friends or potentially romantic is really important. I personally have seen a low of friends shift away just casually seeing a fair few different people towards being more considered in their approach to dating and connecting with someone special.
We will date locally
Although online dating has dominating most of 2020, it’s not exactly made it easy to form long lasting relationships. In person chemistry is obviously as important as online banter and connecting with people locally to where you live will definitely be more popular in 2021. I know what you’re thinking ‘well duh’ but we’ve been lucky enough to live in a fast paced society that allows us to travel across the country in hours, for me I live in Kent and it’s only 55 minutes into central London (quicker than my old bus route across London for work!) however with localised lockdowns travel was (quite rightly) made impossible and it’s definitely something I would think about more when dating now! I can see ‘dating agency Norfolk’ type sites being extremely popular as we move away from the ‘anywhere within 100 miles’ type of dating and towards local dating! In fact I predict a big surge in google searches for things like Norfolk dating site over more generalised dating options!
Online will still dominate
Getting to know people has been pretty hard in 2020, where you could previously have a quick chat on a dating website and then arrange to meet up for a drink to see if you had chemistry, we’ve all had to be a bit more creative about meeting someone in this new covid world! I’ve mentioned before that I think meeting and/or connecting with someone online can be a really positive experience, mainly because you get to know someone before you make a snap judgement of them which I am sure we have all been guilty of! I think video dating and online speed dating are definitely going to continue being popular in 2021 (although I don’t think I could do an online speed dating event!)
Most importantly of all I think 2020 has given us all a bit of a wake up call when it comes to life, love and everything in between. Where you may have started the year in a relationship, it may be that you’re finishing it having realised that that relationship has run it’s course, or perhaps your relationship has become stronger since lockdown hit. Dating wise I think although we have all realised the value of in person chemistry, the importance of getting to know people beyond first impressions and building up that connection has never been more important. I think 2021 will be a really interesting one for anyone looking to meet someone new, either way I think we can all say we won’t be sorry to see the back of this year!
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