Following the health crisis, French singles have profoundly changed the way they meet. Decryption of Fabienne Kraemer, psychoanalyst and author of the book “21 keys for love”.
- Without bars, restaurants, concerts or other traditional means of meeting people, singles have turned to new technologies.
- For more than 40% of them, dating apps have proven to be the best solution for flirting.
With the health crisis, a third of single people have adopted the “virtual date” as the 1st stage of the encounter. This is the result of a new survey* from the dating app Once, which asked more than 2,000 singles about how they have been living the past year, their new love habits and their desires as they approach marriage. a possible return to normal.
Less zapping
48% of single people claim to have adopted new attitudes this year. Shyness disappears thanks to virtual dating, the geographical barrier is no longer an obstacle, and the meeting is more thoughtful. “The successive confinements have profoundly upset the dating system. These changes seem to have gone towards less relationship “consumption”, less zapping. The confinements have put a stop to excessive consumption, and romantic consumption is one of them. », underlines Fabienne Kraemer, psychoanalyst and author of the book “21 Keys to Love”.
“What is very interesting with dating apps in times of confinement is that they also provide someone who thinks of us, who makes us feel less alone. That an app helps you to feel less alone is already a lot, even if the physical meeting does not take place”, continues the health professional.
The combination of the virtual and the real established a new pattern. Digital will clearly be preferred for more than one out of two singles (54%) for first dates – the opportunity to take the time to discover the other before really meeting them.
The virtual meeting has become a first step
For more than one in three singles (35%), virtual dating has thus become a first step that opens the way to meeting in real life. “The awareness that the other can be “dangerous” and is potentially contaminating has made it possible to calm the urgency of physical contact. We will no longer touch each other without thinking about it, and that will change a lot of things. We have discovered the facilitating aspect of the virtual in the relationship with others in general, and the future will be mixed, even at the level of romantic relationships”. confirms Fabienne Kraemer.
The very format of virtual meetings is also destined to evolve. Nearly one in three singles would like more opportunities on apps to meet new people, with, for example, new features, games or questions to break the ice and get to know each other from a distance.
fear of loneliness
The three periods of confinement were almost experienced in a similar way. One in five singles still says that the desire to meet people was felt more during this last confinement than during the two previous periods. “The year has also amplified the fear of loneliness,” comment pollsters – only one in six singles say they have completely stopped dating. Finally, one in ten singles sees things in a positive light thanks to the progress of vaccination campaigns.
*Figures from a survey carried out between April 16 and 20, 2021 by the dating app Once among 2,394 single people in Germany, England, Italy and France.
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