Data from The League shows that winter dating has started earlier this year, as singles become more active to mark the start of the annual ‘cuffing season’.
The cuffing season is a winter dating routine, which sees singles commit to longer term relationships over the colder and darker months.
Summer naturally sees a lull in online dating, but 2020 has shown a 20% lift in summer dating, compared to 2019. This is an unsurprising new trend due to the takeoff of virtual dating brought on by the global COVID-19 restrictions.
The percentage of active users on exclusive dating platform The League has also increased from 65% in summer 2019 to 73% in 2020, showing that more people are looking to build their relations and connections earlier in the year.
Virtual dating and video contacts have become a mainstay on many dating platforms, and there is a belief that we won’t date in the same way ever again.
Amanda Bradford, CEO of The League, has said the idea of an “in-person first date” is dying, as her dating app The League launched a live video feature at the end of 2019.
League Live automatically pairs each user with three singles for back-to-back video dates, lasting just two minutes, at 9pm every Sunday. After the short conversations, the couples can match and continue the interaction if they both agree they’re compatible.
The mode is designed to prevent people wasting time and money by going out on numerous first dates, adding an additional screening layer before moving the relationship offline.
Bradford believes the random matching system simulates chance encounters, a romantic moment that is beginning to die out as online dating becomes normalised.
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