Why this expert thinks ‘social distancing is the best time to date’
The dating expert and host of the We Met at Acme podcast, Lindsey Metselaar, spoke with Yahoo Lifestyle about how to best navigate the dating game during social distancing. Whether you’re searching for a new fling or struggling to keep the flame alive, Metselaar’s tips will help your dating life while self-isolating and may even lead to a more genuine form of closeness.
Video Transcript
LINDSEY METSELAAR: We're living the real "Love is Blind." We really are in these quarantine pods in our apartment. We get to experience the real life "Love is Blind." So we should be embracing that.
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Hey, guys. My name is Lindsey Metselaar. And I host the dating podcast "We Met at Acme." I'm here to give you some tips on how to date while social distancing.
You definitely can still date during social distancing. In fact, social distancing is the best time to date, because everyone is sitting there on their phones. Everyone's on the apps. And it's a really good way to connect without that physical intimacy, which is something that I encourage.
Online dating is a little different than virtual dating, because online, you're just talking, you know, back and forth. It's kind of like texting within these apps. But virtual dating is when you actually see the person face to face. You can see their body language and how they're responding to things. It is a little bit more of that, like, physical element, because you get to see if you have that vibe.
Virtual dating can be really awkward. So you kind of have to just embrace that. There is so many things that you can do together. You can do a "New York Times" crossword together. You can cook together, watch the same show. You can learn a TikTok at the same time. Learning maybe a new language together, playing virtual games together. There's so many fun activities that you can do.
I think, during this time, it's not a red flag if someone doesn't want a virtually date. We're sitting around all day. We're not at our best right now. It could be just an insecurity thing and not necessarily having to do with you. If they're otherwise not communicating, that's a red flag. However, if they're being communicative and showing you that they are into you in other ways, just not ready to do the FaceTime, I think you can cut them some slack.
It's hard to come off as if you're not available all the time right now. And that's why it's so important to make yourself a strict schedule. Wake up and write yourself what you're doing that day. Otherwise, you're just going to be sitting around and just so available for that person, virtually dating with them all day. And you might get sick of each other.
If you just started seeing someone before, they're being socially decent if, you know, you're not seeing each other but you're still communicating all the time. But they're being actually distant if they're not paying attention on your virtual dates or not initiating text with you the way that they used to.
If someone's not getting in touch with you, they're not interested. And it's a hard pill to swallow. But it's really something that you have to realize.
You can definitely form a connection with someone you meet online right now. There's tons of ways to connect that have nothing to do with in-person. I think it's just something that is a bit of an adjustment-- all the more exciting when this is over and you can meet that person in real life and know so much about each other already.
Don't forget-- these are all tips for virtually dating. Definitely listen to the CDC. And make sure you're exercising the best practices for you and for your significant other.