Throughout this pandemic, I have noticed a growing trend on social media and a term entering the public consciousness, a "corona boyfriend." Now, what exactly is a "corona boyfriend" you ask? Social media influencer and all-around confidence queen Serena Kerrigan defines it as "someone who you wouldn't date under normal circumstances, but who you like enough to hit up when you're feeling a fit of quarantine-induced loneliness."
Hmm, doesn't that sound a bit like a friend with benefits? A friend with the added sexual benefits. But here is the thing, with an FWB, you start with a baseline of some sort of relationship: friendship. With a corona boyfriend, you may or may not know this person very well. Your ex may be ready to fill the position or someone you have been out on a few dates with and then practically start living together.
Like most of the social world, I am well aware that Tyler Cameron and Hannah Brown were quarantining together as part of the #QuarantineCrew and our favorite Pilot Pete is sharing his quarters with Bachelor contestant Kelley Flanagan. Needless to say, this has sparked hundreds of rumors in the social world, people debating whether these couples are truly together, or is the concept of self-isolation too much for these men and women to handle?
Of course, a corona boyfriend may not be someone you simply selected after a few or so dates.
It may be someone who is already your boyfriend, but this pandemic caused the two of you to seriously step up the relationship game. Now, why is that? Was the concept of being away from each other too difficult to bear or was the thought of quarantining alone too difficult to accept? We are humans, we are social animals and we crave human touch, it isn't hard to understand that the concept of social isolation might be making us feel more alone than ever.
It is OK to crave human intimacy, something FaceTime and Zoom don't deliver. Although these technologies may help us communicate, are we still truly connected or should we start settling to shack up with someone or form a relationship although we know it will cease to exist when we are set free?
According to CNBC, Bumble saw 21 to 26 percent usage increase in areas like Seattle, New York, and San Francisco. People across the country are engaging in virtual dating since they cannot actively be together. A friend of mine (yes, really a friend) was lamenting about how average all the men were but she continued to swipe right.
Why are you settling for average when you deserve so much more?
For those who are isolating alone, actually for anyone who isn't part of the #QuarantineCrew, it is easy to understand why we may be feeling anxious or alone — we are essentially cut off from a majority of the world. But if you are someone who is swiping through apps hoping to find someone with whom to pass the time, remind yourself not to settle, because soon enough this will all be over.
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