New dating trends emerge as pandemic restrictions loosen

Dating through the pandemic has certainly been unusual, but there are some new dating trends emerging out of it as restrictions loosen, including conscious singlehood, dating with intentions, and “exploratory” dating.

Not too long ago, CityNews told you about a post-pandemic dating trend called “oystering” which Bumble’s Alanna Lauren Greco describes as people seeing the dating world as their “oyster.”

“People are just looking at their lives, essentially, and saying, ‘What’s working? What’s not working? How can I change this?’ So it’s all kind of going hand-in-hand towards people really living their best lives.”

Intentional Dating

Oystering isn’t the only dating trend. Greco says other Bumble users are looking for very specific types of partners.

“On our Bumble app, people can use this ‘dating intentions’ badge, and it says, ‘I’m looking for marriage’ or ‘I don’t know what I’m looking for’ or ‘I’m looking for something casual.’ So, you can list what your dating intentions are.”

This falls into the trend of “intentional dating,” where people are more certain and serious about finding the right partner for them.

“What we found in 2021 was one of the most popular filters was actually this ‘dating intentions’ badge. So people are looking for others with the same dating intentions as them, and that’s great, because people are saying ‘I am looking for what works for me!'”

She adds intentional daters are looking for partners who check off all their boxes, without compromising the things they actually want to get out of a relationship, and moving on from people who don’t make the cut, instead of making excuses for a potential partner’s shortcomings.

“People are saying ‘I need what works for me,’ and they’re willing to go after it, and put that out there,” Greco said.

“There’s no wrong choices, it’s what people want for themselves, and then saying ‘This is okay.’ If you’re looking for someone who meets a very specific criteria, and you’re willing to search for that and go for that, that’s okay too!”

Related article: Bumble’s new dating trend: ‘Oystering’

Conscious Singlehood

Just because there’s more opportunity to date, doesn’t mean everyone is diving headfirst into the dating pool right away. Another trend emerging from the dating app is seeing some users embrace the solitude they’ve become familiar with during pandemic lockdowns.

“It’s called being ‘consciously single,'” said Greco, adding it’s based on Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s viral “conscious uncoupling” separation announcement in 2014.

“It’s the idea of, ‘if I’m single right now, I’m okay with being single, and that goes back to feeling empowered in your choices.”

As many single people were forced to spend time inside, often alone, they learned things about themselves, including how they like to spend their time and what makes them happy, according to Greco.

“Maybe being consciously single is something that is new for people. So it’s great because not only do people have these positive points of view, they’re trying to figure that out what’s great for them.”

Greco says despite the conscious singlehood trend, 9 billion messages were exchanged on Bumble in 2021 — up 40 per cent from the first year of COVID-19, so there’s plenty of fish in the sea!

Related article: COVID vaccinations add a new aspect to dating

Exploratory

Another trend being seen as restrictions loosen is people emerging from the pandemic with a more “exploratory” approach to their love lives. This dating trend sees people exploring their sexuality, their type, or just what they actually want to get out of a relationship.

“The insight that we found, that I found really interesting, was more than one in three people described their approach to dating as ‘exploratory’ right now. If there’s something new that they’re thinking about, that they might want to try, then they’re actually willing to give it a try,” Greco said.

This exploratory period in many single people’s lives has led to an increase in people discovering things about themselves — as they become more open-minded to trying new things, and exploring new aspects of their sexuality. People’s attitudes around sex have changed, and this is leading to people learning more about themselves, too.

“We found in a survey that 22 per cent of U.S. respondents planned to express their sexuality differently now,” compared to how they did pre-pandemic.

Greco adds these trends are all positive:

“It can only lead to more empowered relationships, more equal relationships, healthier relationships, which everyone deserves!”