Love digitally

"Companionship, of any kind, is more important (than ever). For some, finding love is secondary to finding relationships. For others, online dating is a new territory that they need to ease into and take a risk with being vulnerable."
Zaidi does have one piece of advice for date seekers: take advantage of pre-meet video chats - something Chan and Tsang have both rejected as "too awkward", and CMB's Kang says only 6 percent of Hong Kong users have tried.

"There are some real advantages to seeing potential partners in video chats," says Zaidi. "Specific brain regions respond almost instantly to assess personality and physical appeal. We do this within seconds of seeing and hearing potential mates."

In a 2017 study at the University of Wroclaw in Poland, researchers found that voices reveal an unexpected range of characteristics, including dominance, cooperativeness, emotional state and even body size. This is supported by earlier findings by Finkel - the co-author who questioned humans' ability to prioritize qualities in a partner. He cites a range of factors - "sense of humor, rapport, interaction style, holistic impressions and nonconscious mimicry" - in determining how comfortably two people interact. And these, he writes, must be assessed face to face. During a pandemic, a video meet is perhaps the next best option.

Now that COVID-19 cases are soaring in Hong Kong and likely meeting spots remain off-limits, online apps may be singles' safest bet in terms of expanding their romantic network. Since science has shown that our notions about the most compatible partner are often at odds with reality, it's a good idea to cast a wide net. Above all, it pays to be optimistic and keep an open mind: after all, your happily-ever-after may just begin with the very next swipe.