It’s fair to say that 2020 has completely transformed the way we date. This year, instead of throwing on our best outfit and scanning for our date in a bar, we’ve been throwing piles of laundry out of shot before a video call. We’ve had to navigate dating at a distance, and we’ve tackled the challenge of building intimacy from 2 metres apart. Quite frankly, we all deserve a round of applause. With The Longest Year Ever finally drawing to a close, we’re beginning to wonder what the future of dating holds. At Badoo, we’ve partnered with our Global Dater Expert, Priti Joshi, to gaze into our crystal ball and see what our love lives have in store in 2021. Just call us Mystic Meg.

The Hiber-Dater

Gone are the days of cuffing in winter and playing the field in summer: more and more of us will use lockdown restrictions, rather than seasons, as our guide. We foresee Hiber-daters using their time during lockdown to lay the groundwork and find matches before restrictions ease. Once things loosen up again, they’ll plan to meet up IRL and date the traditional way.

The Carpe DM-er

On the other hand, we have The Carpe DM-ers. With restrictions changing daily and uncertainty about the future hanging in the air, Carpe DMers won’t want to wait to get back to ‘normal’ to find a date. They’ll try their best to date however possible within restrictions and will be open to new connections. Park date in the freezing cold, anyone?

The Deceler-Dater

The fact that we can’t meet in real life has placed a greater emphasis on the ‘before’ part of going on a date. Deceler-daters are discovering that they’re actually enjoying longer periods of messaging – and that it’s leading to deeper conversations and connection. It’s out with the hasty “fancy a drink?” and in with the “tell me about your first childhood memory” for these guys.

The Intro-Flirt

This year, we’ve been spending more time in our homes than ever before. It’s encouraged lots of us to do some serious deep-diving into what we want and need romantically, which can only be a good thing. The Intro-Flirt is a new type of dater – one who is more self-aware and open to dating beyond the usual parameters like similar interests (going to gigs) and physical appearance (tall, dark and handsome). Intro-Flirters are considering dating beyond their usual ‘type,’ and are excited to connect with new kinds of people.

The Flirty Talker

Before 2020, the thought of calling our matches on the phone sent the fear of God into most of us. This year, though, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of people hopping on a video call or sending voice notes to potential lovers. There’s nothing sexier than finding out your match is a smooth-talker, and chatting on the phone is a great intimacy-builder in a time when it’s tricky to meet in person. Long live the Flirty Talk.

All Killer, No Filter

The need to date from home has given rise to a new type of dater – one who’s thrown off the shackles of getting dressed up in favour of comfy clothes and a make-up free face. Most of us spend our days lazing around in loungewear anyway, and now we’re embracing the fact that we don’t need to be dressed to the nines to make a good impression. These daters prioritise comfort and honesty, and we predict this relaxed version of dating will continue long into 2021.

The Virtual Virgin

2020: also known as The Year of Sexting. Covid-19 has intensified the connection between sex and tech, because even when we’re stuck at home, we still want to get our rocks off. The Virtual Virgin is someone who’s dabbled in phone or video sex before meeting their match in real life. While it might have been taboo before, virtual sex is now a completely normalised part of dating, so go forth and practise your dirty-talk.

If this year has shown us anything, it’s that we are truly resilient daters. People all over the world are continuing to date right now, and our interactive Love Map shows exactly how we’re doing it. Whether we’re in Britain or Brazil, it seems we’re not letting this year get in the way of our love lives. We all want to experience first-date butterflies, feel a connection, and - most importantly - have a debrief with our mates once it’s all over.