More swiping, less meeting: how online dating has gone more virtual amid the coronavirus pandemic

Online dating apps are more popular than before, but users are becoming more selective about meeting up in person amid social distancing measures. Instead, daters are chatting on apps longer, and getting creative with virtual options such as video calls, online games and Netflix Party. — SCMP

They matched on dating app Coffee Meets Bagel and had been chatting for about a week, bonding over a shared passion for travel. But after he asked her out a few times, Hong Kong-based freelance writer Monana Liu decided to politely and firmly turn him down one last time, cutting off contact.

Although 30-year-old Liu said she normally would not mind going out with the man she matched with, his persistent requests to meet up – at a time when the city was racing to contain a third wave of Covid-19 cases – put her off.