No one likes filling out an online dating bio, but as COVID has brought us together online, it's time we were all honest and change, showing our real selves online and having some fun.
Since the coronavirus shook the world to its core everything has changed. Work is online, shopping even more so and dating... well, things have changed but perhaps it's for the better. As everyone's lives, for bad or worse, moves even more so online, it seems that people are ready to get real when it comes to online dating profiles.
You might now believe it but online dating has been around since the mid-1990s and anyone since then who has dipped their toe into the waters knows how hard it is to come up with a glowing bio. From the old school online dating sites to those where swipe right and left, we're pretty sure that everyone looks at their own bio and thinks, "this doesn't really say who I am."
Pandemic dating reality
Then, of course, no one is who they say they are online, or at least one expects them not to be. What if that could be different? From research carried out on IrishCentral on behalf of MyIrishDate.com, a new Irish online dating app, we've discovered something exciting. As we've all been on lockdown and basically in timeout! It seems a little time on the naughty step has done us good. According to our survey of online dating, 75.24% of our respondents are more open and honest with people during the pandemic. And quite rightly so!
With no time for dilly-dallying during a worldwide pandemic, it's time to get real! There's no room for nonsense and the usual online dating chaff it's time to get to know what makes folks tick.
Finding your Irish tribe
It's undeniably true that there's something a little wonderful and strange about the Irish. We punch above our weight internationally, from world-renowned authors and poets to that Irish American lad, JFK, who made it to the White House. We have a way of standing out. We also have a way of sticking together. Why not make ourselves be seen online also and that's where an app like MyIrishDate kicks in.
Can you think of another dating website you know that is interested in important fun things like "can you juggle?" and what would you do if you were "offered $10,000 to eat a hairy fist-sized spider?" Sound like conversations you've had with your Irish pals? We think so!
And then there are conversation starters like "What Netflix show you’ve seen recently and loved?" and telling like what's your "hangover cure"?
MyIrishDate.com is a great example of an online dating site that lets you know what you're getting in to. For example, narrowing questions like "Your date turns up in GAA jersey?"... what do you do?! Or even "Guess what this Irish sentence means; Ar nos na gaothe" Do you know what that means? We love that.
If you're going to meet someone special you should know you click!..Excuse the online pun but it is absolutely true.
MyIrishDate.com is just about to go live and registration is now open. The site is also about much more than dating, it's a forum to connect with your Irish tribe, finding friends and making connections.
While the bar scene might be a little dicey right now what with sporadic lockdowns and, let's be honest, face masks a wonderful thing to come out of our new remote reality is that according to our studies 78.2% of of our respondents would be game-on to have a video call with that special Irish someone.
What is certain is that 2020 so far has given all of us on the dating scene a chance to take stock. As the world of dating seems altered for the next few months at least it's worth considering your next move.
The results of MyIrishDate.com's survey gave us a glimpse of optimism for the dating world as 67.9% reported they had been thinking "about finding a partner more since the pandemic."
So, as the world of 2020 might feel uncertain, what is certain is that there are Irish folks out there ready to connect, to forge that bigger tribe, whether as friends or something else.
