*This post was written in collaboration with Senior Cornwall Dating.

Now that the government have more or less announced we will be returning to the tier system after lockdown, everyone who has been trying to continue their dating life breathed a collective sigh of relief. Optimistically everyone hopes we are nearing he end of our current (and hopefully last) national lockdown. I recently wrote a blog about what the restaurant rules are in each tier. Depending on which one you move back into, you might even be able to go on an actual date, out, somewhere in public. But that is jumping a little ahead. With all of the confusing COVID-19 rules, where ARE you supposed to meet people to go on dates with?

National dating sites

We’ve all seen national dating sites crop up online or on TV ads. The idea is that rather than try to find a dating agency Cornwall, you would create a profile and then add where you live to it, and be matched with people in your area. My personal experience with such dating apps is that you rarely find someone actually IN your area. I live in Essex and the only handful of boys I matched with were from London, which meant one or both of us doing a bit of travelling for the actual dates.

Local dating sites

If you are looking for someone who genuinely DOES live really close to you, then local dating sites are the best option. Let’s face it, there are not many people out there who are specifically looking for a partner that lives several miles away. So say for example you live in Cornwall and you register to a Cornwall dating site, you will only get matches in Cornwall and can spend more time looking for people who match your hobbies and interests. That’s another thing I love about the idea of dating sites. Not only can you write all the things you like on your profile, but you can also specifically write what you are looking for, which saves a lot of time down the line.

Social media

I am not, for one minute, suggesting that you just find a random stranger on social media and try to strike up a conversation (although that can and has happened for a number of people, if you do take this approach just make sure you put measures in place to make sure you are safe). Most social media websites have a tool that suggests friends based on who you know mutually or who you already follow. The most obvious example of this is the “people you may know” part of Facebook, which matches you up with people who have a lot of friends in common with you. Rather than just trying to start a conversations with a stranger, you could ask the mutual friend to do some digging for you and find out if the person you like is single. If they are, you could even go as far as asking your mutual friend to introduce you.