A Third of Zoom Daters Would Be ‘Exclusive’ With Someone They Haven’t Even Met

The study comes from the new Hinge Labs team, who say: 'The world may have paused, but people still want to find love.'

Updated on20 05 2020

A third of people who have gone on to have a video or Zoom date from Hinge would be open to being ‘exclusive’ with someone they’d only virtually dated.

The statistic is part of a study by the dating app into the habits of daters in lockdown as part of ‘Hinge Labs’ - a dedicated research team they've launched to research the behaviours and attitudes of successful daters.

Zoom dating has become so popular, they say – 61% say they’ll get to know people virtually before meeting them for a date when social distancing ends - that they’re even launching a feature later this summer, where you can video call matches.

Logan Ury, Hinge’s Director of Relationship Science said: ‘People are enjoying video dating because it’s giving them a chance to connect during a very isolating time. The world may have paused, but people still want to find love. And video chatting is allowing them to do that.'

People can fall in love through meaningful conversations over video chat.

‘Video dating also gives people the opportunity to slow down and really get to know someone before they get physical and hormones get in the way of accessing their true feelings. For some Hinge users that’s been a major change, and it’s something they’re appreciating about this moment. If you’ve seen Love Is Blind, you understand the power of couples going deep before they meet in person. We’re seeing the same phenomenon unfold in real life right now.

‘The rise of video dating has surprised everyone – including our Hinge community! Before the pandemic, few of our users had ever tried digital dating. Now almost a third of them have gone on a video chat date in the last week alone. I’ve been impressed by people’s resilience and adaptability. A third of our users (and 43% of men) say they’re willing to enter in an exclusive relationship with someone they’ve only met over video chat. That really shows me the power of our app in helping people connect and find love, even during the most challenging times.’

The study found that top reason why people don’t go on video chats is because 58% of them think it will be awkward. However, among Hinge users who went on a video chat date, 81% found their video chat dates are not at all or only slightly awkward. And two-thirds of Hinge users (67%) found their video chat less awkward than they thought it would be. After going on a video date with a Hinge match, two out of three users (66%) still talk after the first video chat.

©Hinge

‘My number one tip when it comes to video dating is the same as my number one tip when it comes to meeting a Hinge match in person for the first time: skip the small talk,’ says Logan. ‘Your dates should not feel like job interviews. Who cared what the person studied in college? Take your time and ask deeper, more thoughtful questions. You want to get to know the person, not their resume.’

And while you might think people are desperate to (when it’s safely possible) meet and get to know each other in person, the Hinge study said 61% of people plan to continue meeting virtually when social distancing ends.

Maybe that’s because it seems to be proving successful – two-thirds say they’d felt a growing connection over video chat and, as mentioned, a third say they’d be open to being exclusive. Something Logan says she can fully believe: ‘Love is an extraordinarily powerful force. It can survive wars, long-distance, and yes, even a global pandemic. People can fall in love through meaningful conversations over video chat, so it doesn’t surprise me that Hinge couples who met this way are entering into exclusive relationships.’