'Untact' Carries Love... From Studying and Hobbies to Birthday Parties

Growth of Dating Apps Amid COVID-19
New Trends in Contactless Romantic Meetings

Video Platforms Popular for Birthday Parties
Book Clubs and Study Groups Too
Untact Lifestyle Expanding Across All Areas of Life

An untact book club experienced firsthand by the reporter.
Photo by Kim Daehyun, Intern Reporter

[Asia Economy Reporters Lee Gwan-ju, Kim Dae-hyun, Kim Seong-won, Park Jun-hyung, Lee Jun-hyung, Jeon Geun-hwi Intern Reporters] "Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the 'blind date market' has been virtually wiped out. That's why people are flocking to blind date applications, and the 'matching rate' seems to have increased."

Office worker Lee Hyun-ji (29) successfully got married this year through a blind date app. Until last year, she met potential partners through introductions by acquaintances, but with the onset of COVID-19, even the 'acquaintance chance' was cut off. Since professional blind date apps carefully select partners based on desired conditions, she was able to meet her spouse within six months.

Blind date apps emerged in the early 2010s alongside the spread of smartphones and have steadily grown. However, recently, combined with the COVID-19 situation, their expansion has been explosive. Even if not necessarily to meet a marriage partner, young people seeking 'contactless (untact) meetings' amid social isolation are flocking to these apps. 'Connection' rather than 'contact' has become the dating norm among the younger generation.

Office worker Shin Mo (26) receives one introduction to a potential partner daily. He said, "The advantages are low cost and not having to worry about the matchmaker's feelings," adding, "I will continue to use the blind date app until I meet the partner I want." There is no burden of feeling like he has to meet 'one more time' out of respect for the matchmaker's effort. Video producer Han Mo (30) is concerned about COVID-19 infection and only continues 'untact conversations' with matches from the blind date app without meeting them in person. He pursues a 'safe blind date' by deciding on offline meetings only when he gains confidence in the other person through conversations.

In this online meeting market, COVID-19 sometimes serves as a convenient excuse. For example, office worker Yoo Mo (26) received a message from a match on a blind date app saying, "The COVID-19 situation has worsened, so meeting in person is a bit difficult." Although the app matched them, if after consideration they decide 'it's better not to meet,' they use COVID-19 as an excuse. Of course, meetings through blind date apps have drawbacks such as profile theft, prostitution through chats, personal information leaks, marriage fraud, and also the disadvantage that reputation or background information is less trustworthy compared to direct introductions through acquaintances.

Dating, Company Gatherings, Studying, Hobbies... Nothing is Impossible in the Untact Era

The youth, accustomed to online environments, are succeeding in 'untacting' almost every part of their daily lives. Han Gi-ha (29) held his birthday party last September on an online video conferencing platform. He invited about 20 people, some of whom were strangers to each other. In reality, groups would have to meet separately, but here it was not a problem at all. The party's theme was set as a 'cooking contest.' Each person took turns introducing the dishes they made. Afterwards, they ate food and drank for three to four hours while continuing the party. Han said, "It was fun first of all, and it was cost-effective, so I think it was a good decision."

Untact has also helped recover lost hobbies. Office worker Lee Su-jin (32) stopped participating in a book club she had been involved in for 10 years when she moved from Seoul to Cheongju three years ago due to work issues. However, since online meetings started in August, her hobby, which had been on hold for three years, resumed. Lee also decided to hold her graduate school year-end party online this year. She happily said, "Since moving to a rural area, I mostly stopped attending meetings, but untact meetings have helped me regain my social life."

Job seekers are also actively using untact technology. Baek Seol-hwa (26) holds an 'online study monitoring group' every night with three friends. They run a video conferencing platform and study individually, but if someone leaves their seat for a long time or dozes off, they send a warning via microphone. When offline study groups became impossible, they found this as a kind of breakthrough. Baek said, "Feeling like someone is watching helps me concentrate more on studying," adding, "It's a kind of voluntary panopticon."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.