Let’s carry out a little thought experiment!
You are single and looking for a mate. Suddenly, you find yourself surrounded by ten strangers who are quite nice to you, and are ready to try to start a relationship with each of them. What are the chances that these people are not in a relationship right now? Is there a way to understand that the other person is also ready for the relationship? This is problematic!, you can never predict how the other person will perceive your attempt to make an acquaintance offline. Most likely, there might be no special prospects.
Now, this is a different situation!
For example, if you go to a dating site or a video chat and meet ten pretty strangers in the same way. If these people use dating services, it implies that might be interested in dating by default. Accordingly, the chances of success are much higher. You can initiate a new acquaintance with greater confidence.
So can dating and dates offline be a thing of the past?
Today, we’ll try to answer this question.
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Contradictions in the world of offline and online dating
In 2017, the Bustle portal conducted a large survey of its subscribers to find out which dating format they prefer; online or offline. 95% of respondents said they would rather get acquainted and meet people in real life than online.
At the same time, more than half of millennials and zoomers meet online today and do not make any special attempts to change this aspect. Also, during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, the situation worsened; we began to meet in the real world even less often.
This is where random video chats come into play as a mix of online and offline communication!
The reason Omegle video chat and its analogues are gradually replacing classic dating apps
Firstly, let’s dive into a brief history. Until 2009, the format of random video chat did not exist in principle. It was this year that two platforms appeared at once, allowing you to easily meet new people: Omegle and Chatroulette. At the same time, Omegle initially had only text chat, which significantly limited the possibilities for communication. However, the site offered users a completely new dating format. This appearance of functional alternatives to Omegle was forthcoming.
Today, among the most popular and interesting random video chats in terms of functionality, we can name the following:
- Camsurf is an interesting alternative to Omegle. It offers a handy gender filter, a choice of communication language, the ability to hide the user’s location, add an introductory message to attract attention, and the search for interlocutors by interests simply by listing them in a special “I’m interested” field. However, a significant part of the functionality is available only to owners of premium accounts.
- Chatrandom is another successful analogue of Omegle, which, in addition to the gender filter and search by interests, has the original chat room function. These are virtual rooms of interest, in which a large number of participants can be at the same time. Chatrooms are a good format for those who want to find like-minded people or are still too shy to meet new people face to face. Also, Chatrandom has a separate chat with ladies, but access to it is paid.
- CooMeet is a great alternative to Omegle for men who want to chat exclusively with ladies. Each lady must confirm personal data during registration, with this, the gender filter on coomeet.com/omegle is never wrong. Additionally, in this way, the appearance of fakes and bots on the site is excluded. CooMeet has great moderation, handy mobile apps for iOS and Android, a built-in message translator, and an analogue of Instagram Stories. All new users can take advantage of a free trial period.
- OmeTV is a minimalistic random video chat that offers its users gender and geographic filters, as well as a built-in message translator similar to CooMeet. Also, OmeTV has good mobile apps for iOS and Android. Other than that, it’s a classic chatroulette with no frills.
Nevertheless, let’s try to understand why random video chats are actively replacing classic dating services and attracting more attention from the audience today. After all, the format is far from new.
We can name five reasons for the popularization of chatroulettes lately:
- Lack of live communication
It would seem that in the modern world, we have access to a huge number of communication tools. However, the paradox is that every year more people suffer from severe loneliness. Live communication is reduced to short conversations on work issues, and meetings with friends and family are very rare.
- Desire to speed up the dating process
Chatroulettes speed up the acquaintance because you communicate immediately via video, see the interlocutor in front of you, and have a better understanding of the type of person they are. Therefore, you can make the right decision whether you are ready to continue communication and develop relationships in the future.
- Constant lack of time and desire to use it more efficiently
Nowadays, it is very difficult to keep up with everything. Also, setting aside at least a few hours a week to go on an offline date is a real luxury that not everyone can afford. Therefore, contemporaries increasingly choose to date on the Internet and use video chats.
- Huge audience in random video chats
Video chats over the past two years (largely due to the pandemic) have significantly increased their audience. For example, the number of active users on Omegle has tripled in a short period. Also, other video chats are showing impressive growth.
- The Covid-19 pandemic and its “social” consequences
We have become much more serious about taking care of our health and not putting it at unnecessary risk due to the pandemic. Also, given that every meeting with a stranger offline is a potential risk, we have become much less likely to make contact in the real world.
So will online dating end 100%?
Despite the general trend, we tend to believe that offline dating will not go away completely. Although we are increasingly looking for online dating every year, the percentage of marriages resulting from online dating is currently 18%. This implies that a significant part of pairs is formed offline.
However, it’s impossible to deny that live dating is no longer a priority. Most of those who meet on the Internet has several video dates first, and after that, they decide on the first offline meeting. This in our opinion is the right strategy that saves you time, nerves, and money.
Therefore, you should not completely cross out live dates from your life. Nonetheless, you should not try to transfer communication with a new person offline as soon as possible. Learn to strike a balance between online and offline, as this will make your life to become much easier. Finally, you will find that one person your heart yearns for. Good luck!
