I asked SCAD students, as well as my Instagram audience, to submit anonymous stories about their encounters with online dating during quarantine, navigating their love lives from the distance a pandemic brings, and everything in between.
I was talking to this guy very casually before he ghosted me out of the blue, and now he’s dating a famous singer.
At the very beginning of quarantine, I was so lonely I snuck out of my house and lied to my parents that I was going to see my camp friends but instead went to see a guy I met on Tinder. He became so strangely obsessed with me in those short 5 hours that he told me he was going to move to Savannah so that he could be with me. I blocked him the next day.
My girlfriend and I lived a 10-minute train ride apart for the entirety of quarantine but couldn’t see each other for four months.
I hooked up with my roommate’s brother over quarantine.
The worst message someone sent me on Tinder was, “you can’t spell quarantine without ur a qt.”
Matched with a guy on Tinder and started snapchatting. After a month of just talking, we finally went on a date once some COVID restrictions loosened. We’ve been talking for almost six months now!
My boyfriend and I had only been dating for like two months before quarantine started, but we decided to live together during lockdown and have basically been living together since!
A guy kept DM-ing me (post date), despite me telling him I wasn’t interested. So I blocked him, but in a weird turn of events, his girlfriend (who I did not know existed, by the way) asked me out (for him?) All in all, it was not a vibe and seemed like a very toxic situation.
My boyfriend and I have been doing long distance since March. It’s his 20th birthday tomorrow, and it makes me sad that I can’t be there to celebrate with him.
I met my current boyfriend online during quarantine, and we’ve been dating for four months now. So far, it’s the most successful relationship I’ve had.
Thank you to everyone who shared with me!
Words by Olivia Hawkins
Graphic by Titi Motta