Is video dating a good option and is it better than dating apps where you only see the person’s You’ll see your match’s actual appearance, and get a more accurate feel for their personality. Video calls are an excellent way to further screen your matches, and save the time, expense and awkwardness of meeting someone you quickly realize you’d never be interested in dating.

Here are some tips on how to have a great (or at least “actually good”) virtual date:

1. Make a damn effort.
2. Figure out your camera setup beforehand.
3. Do something.
4. Don’t talk about coronavirus the entire time.
5. Expect awkwardness to happen, because it’s gonna happen.
6. Video calls can actually be sexy.
7. Decompress afterwards.

Expect the date to last between 30 minutes or a few hours if you hit it off. In terms of things to talk about, you just need to think about real life dates but be aware awkward silences seem a lot worse on video. A recent survey from Match showed that 69% of users in the US were open to video chatting with a potential partner, whereas just 6% had tried it before the pandemic.