Dating trend 'locdating' means people are looking closer to home for love
Pre-lockdown, it didn’t matter where in the world you were, you could simply change the settings on your phone and connect with other single people in the area.
Perhaps you even chose to avoid your local area and opt for further afield, enabling you to date a whole new set of people.
Whatever your old reasoning, it seems there has been a shift in behaviour thanks to the coronavirus pandemic and it’s encouraging us to chat with people closer to home.
The term “locdating” has been coined to describe this new way of dating, and it involves defining your location settings to only interact with people who are very close by to you, avoiding the need to jump on public transport altogether.
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The study by Bumble found that 25% of people are refusing to leave their local area to go on dates and almost half are “less inclined” to look further afield for a love match than they were pre-lockdown.
The main aim of “locdating” is to avoid getting on public transport, taking away some COVID-19 risk with each new date.
People choosing to date by location are refining their search down so that they only speak to people who live within a mile of their location.
It’s not the first new dating trend to emerge out of lockdown, with the term “turbo dating” also providing rather popular throughout the pandemic.
The term refers to people, who were at the beginning stages of a relationship before lockdown, who have since hit the “turbo” button on their relationship, some of whom have even moved in with each other.
It’s a lot easier to go from first date to delete-the-app-I’m-in-love status when you’re chatting with somebody who lives on your doorstep. After all, you’re surely going to have more in common with them - a favourite coffee shop, for example.
Read more: How to re-ignite your libido in lockdown
If you’re in it for the love, there’s more positive dating news to come out of lockdown.
It’s often said that with thousands of people at your fingertips, single people are finding it harder to commit to one person. By tightening up that pool, perspective daters are only able to meet people in the local vicinity.
You know, like they did it in the old days.
Since lockdown, over half (55%) of people have also admitted they’re looking for something a bit more serious, according to the research.
With that in mind, now might be the perfect time to look for love on a dating app.
