*This post was written in collaboration with Senior Manchester Dating

With lockdown looking more and more likely to be extended, a lot of our freedoms and things we enjoy have been restricted. Dating is one of the things that has been impacted the most from local and national lockdowns. While online dating sites are a great way to meet new people with similar interests to you, when it comes to going out on an actual date it becomes quite difficult if you are not meant to leave your house, save for essential items. People have been thinking of inventive ways to date using video calling. Companies like Skype and Zoom have benefitted enormously from the lockdown, and you can do a number of things on a video call to make it feel like a “real date”.

Have dinner

Say you are browsing through a local site, like a dating agency Manchester, and you find someone you like. Bingo. The next obvious step would be to message them for a bit and then if you get on, arrange to go out for dinner. only, of course, you can’t go out for dinner. That doesn’t have to be the spanner in the works it feels like. If you arrange a video call, you can order food at the same time and eat it while having a chat. One of the benefits of this is that you can both order food you actually like. Because how many of us have been on dates, bravely said we’d try something our date suggested and then it turned out to be vile.

Watch a film

Let’s face it: the cinema is a terrible date. It’s dark, it’s awkward, you can’t talk, and you are forced to sit next to your date for an hour and a half without learning a thing about them. However, watching a film with someone at the same time over a video call can be a pleasant experience. Although you probably don’t want to chat all the way through the film, because you will miss it, at least you can talk a little bit and share your opinions on the film. I always find that you can tell a lot about a person about what kind of films they like. For example, if he is over 30 and Borat or The Hangover is his favourite film, steer well clear.

Do a quiz

If you meet someone on something like a Manchester dating site, you can chat for months and months and still not really get an idea of who someone is. Quizzes are a great way to find out what their interests are, and more pertinently, what they are not. Zoom quizzes went through a bit of a moment at the start of lockdown, and I have to admit the most entertainment came from the WRONG answers people gave (mostly me). It doesn’t have to be anything heavy, you could even find a quiz on a TV show you both like or a mutual interest.