The vast majority of people today are getting acquainted online - these are the consequences of worldwide digitalization. How online dating is changing, what "slow dating" is, and what the industry offers to those who are tired of swipes?

Dating sites are one of the most popular talking points between friends. And mostly there is only one conclusion: you have to get used to the idea of going through a huge number of potential partners before you'll find someone really deserving your attention. Site algorithms rank us by height, weight, hair, and eye color and match us with some candidates. The matching is not so relevant though, because height and weight have nothing to do with our personality, interests and lifestyle. However, based on that physical parameters and retouched photos one gets a thousand matches, spends hours in swiping, is lost in fake photos and tries to avoid catfishing. Users got tired of that run for swipes, bringing constant anxiety. Scientists have discovered such a thing as the paradox of choice: the more opportunities we get, the less satisfied we are.

And here the phenomenon of slow dating is coming to the agenda. During the pandemic, most of us have changed our views on relations and are looking for something long-lasting and meaningful. We would like rather meet fewer people, and stay in contact for a longer period, paying deeper attention to the persons we meet, as well as to ourselves and our feelings. It enables us to evaluate the quality of future relationships. Those two components - limiting the choice and giving time for communication - became the formula for slow dating which resulted in the success of a new generation of slow dating apps.

Karen (Ka-Yan) Chau (backlink: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-chau-283067267/), the founder of numerous successful dating projects and Chief Executive Officer of Once brings attention to the innovative approach to online dating offered by the app which values quality over quantity.

Once app became a leader in the field of "conscious" dating, as it is different from most dating applications at its core. It is an application for those who are looking for a serious relationship. The Once app, using artificial intelligence, picks up just one candidate a day. It happens at noon, and then you have 24 hours to get to know each other and continue the communication if both are interested, otherwise, the match burns out. AI matches couples by analyzing user profiles, their interests, hobbies, romantic preferences, and dating stories. Besides, users can evaluate each person with whom they communicated, helping artificial intelligence better understand their tastes. That approach enabled Once to attract more than 10 million users, making it the most popular dating application in its category.

'The satiety and burnout from dating sites together with the pandemic, gave people a chance to think through their lifestyle and reconsider their attitude toward speed dating, giving a rise to the opposite trend. Slow dating apps give us an opportunity to get to know each other's personalities better before becoming closer,' comments Karen (Ka-Yan) Chau. The main message of the application developers is to create strong and meaningful relationships with people of the same values.