I Went Zoom Speed Dating, So You Don’t Have To On a Saturday night, after – Bustle

On a Saturday night, after another riveting week of walking around my living room and failed attempts at making cold brew, I turned off The Sopranos, put on a fresh pair of sweatpants, and got ready for a date. Actually, I got ready for 23 dates — all at the same time. That’s right, folks: At the height of a global pandemic, I went Zoom speed dating and attended a virtual singles mixer.

Although the phrase “Zoom singles mixer” may sound like it was written by the creators of Cards Against Humanity, many dating companies and matchmaking services have opted to move online since social distancing began. Take video-dating app Filter Off, for example, which has seen a major surge in its speed dating sessions, Bumble’s collaboration with BuzzFeed, which sets up strangers on live-streamed first dates. Eventbrite even reports a 1000% increase in online events in April, with “speed dating” becoming a new trending search term. This is the wild, wild west of internet culture and behavior.

Virtual speed dating may come with little reward, but it also means little risk.

In mid-March, when my city officially banned group gatherings and began living in isolation, I received an email from Rachel Breitenwischer, co-founder and COO of Here/Now (formerly Perchance), a dating and human connection company that hosts
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