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Does the idea of having a virtual date seem awkward and stressful to you? Recently Madame Noire got the chance to hear from Logan Ury, the Director of Relationship Science at Hinge, on how video dating can be less intimidating and more enjoyable for both you and others navigating the increasingly popular way to date.
“Around 50% of Hinge users have been on a video date,” Ury shared, explained some of the app’s collected data surrounding dating statistics and patterns amidst the pandemic. “The majority of people who’ve said that they’ve tried it say shared that they want to continue using it in the future.”
That being said, she specified, “Among people who haven’t tried video dating, the most common reason provided regarding why they haven’t felt comfortable trying it is because they say they’re worried it’ll be awkward. There’s definitely this fear of ‘What will we even talk about?’ or ‘How will I know when to end it? — It’s not like the check is going to come and we’ll both pay the bill and leave,’” she noted quite frankly with an understanding of how many current daters feel.
According to her, it was important that the Hinge team made video dating easier for people regardless of where they fall on the dating spectrum “because it’s a really efficient way of getting a vibe to check on the other person to see whether you want to meet up with them in real life — and see if there’s something between the two of you.”
As some first steps regarding how you can remove the awkwardness from your impending romantic virtual interactions, a good place to start is by making sure that you’re confident in your online profile. Not only will it help you attract more matches — and the types of matches you’re looking for — but Ury noted that a good online dating profile that includes a well-written bio and/or personality-filled prompts and pictures will give people something to remember about you and possibly ask you about when your video chatting.
Relatedly, you can also take some of the pressure off of yourself by just keeping it real with whoever your video calling whenever the two of you have your first virtual date. If your anxieties around video dating are FODA-related, Ury said that being upfront and straightforward at the beginning of a date and telling the other person that you maybe haven’t ever done a video date — or that you’ve been out of the dating game for a while — is completely an okay thing to do. Apparently, chances are they’ll tell you the same thing.
Finally, if you’re interested in trying out virtual dating through Hinge specifically, Ury emphasized that the app recently released “video prompts” so that when one goes on a video date on the app, they have the ability to choose from “eight different prompt packages” that’ll help break the ice between them and their date. Providing you with questions so that you can get to know each other’s opinions on different topics, or activities you can do with each other virtually, Ury noted that the conversation starters are Hinge’s way of addressing the data — which confirms users like the idea of video dates but aren’t necessarily always comfortable with going out on them just yet.
With the aforementioned tips, hopefully video dating seems a bit less foreign. Good luck!
