were comfortable
enough with each
other that any lulls in
the convo were NBD.
Turns out, video -
vetting Victor was like
the trailer to a good
movie—one with a
solid kiss at the end.
Video date #2DAVIDThe British director
and I had texted a few
times when he asked
me if I was around for
a call (I know!). I sug-
gested a video one
and he was game.
I faced the window
(for good lighting,
duh), feeling pretty
confident. I mean,
after Victor, I was
basically a pro at this
video thing. David,
however, seemed a lit-
tle too comfortable in
front of the camera.
He literally couldn’t
stop staring at himself,
which was pretty
cringey, NGL.
At least I got to see
t h e e p i c v i ew f ro m his
rooftop (hello, Sunset
Boulevard), and we
did end up getting
deep—bonding over
how we’d both made
moves for love (he left
London to chase a
wo m a n; I l e f t L. A. f o r
a guy and then came
back when that rela-
tionship imploded).
Normally, I wouldn’t
have revealed so
much so soon, but
what can I say? He
was practically beg-
gin g m e t o di v u l g e my
secrets every time he
said “Go on” in his
insanely sexy accent.
Two days later, we
met for coffee, and
while there wasn’t any
first-meeting anxiety,
we f e l l s t rai g h t in t o a
“dater view.” In other
words, we spent more
time asking each
other about our pro-
fesh passion projects
than why we were sin-
gle (perhaps that was
the answer?).
By the time we
finished our cappucci-
nos, it was clear our
business meet...er,
date was over. We
hugged it out and said
we’d “keep in touch”
(whatever thatBUMBLE
The app for women now
offers video- and voice-calling
features, but don’t worry,
you won’t get a bunch of
random video-chat requests
from thirsty dudes. Only you
can initiate the call
once you’ve matched,
so men have to wait for you
to buzz them.BADOO
This international app
(accents galore!) gives you
the option to take a fire
texting convo right to video.
You can just click the
camera icon in the right-hand
corner of your chat
and get ready to smize
in 3, 2, 1....HAPPY HOUR
The LGBTQ+-friendly option
lets you match and
video-chat with nearby users
during your post-work
“wine down” (convenient!).
At 8 p.m. every night,
you can log on and mingle with
some local snacks, then
decide if you want to meet up
in person.FACEBOOK DATING
Ever wonder what the voice
behind those shirtless selfies
sounds like? In a new
feature rolling out by the end
of this year, FB Dating will let
users connect and share their
Facebook and Instagram Stories
directly to their dating profiles.
PSA: More selfie videos,
less Fantasy Football updates.our senses of humor
didn’t match up either.
By which I mean he
was not impressed by
my one-too-many
deep-dish-pizza jokes
(sorry, but it’s, like,
the only thing I know
about Chi-town). Also,
h e g a ve w h a t f e l t like
a TED Talk on his
super-high-profile
career. Meanwhile, I
was really just casu-
a l l y t r y in g t o hid e t h e
freshly formed pimple
on my face. Unclear if
he noticed.
Honestly? The
entire conversation
was pretty freakin’
boring—to the point4
VIDEO-DAT
E
means), but the inti- RED FLAGS
mate connection we
had made onscreen
just didn’t end up
translating IRL.Video date #3JUSTINHis profile said he
was only looking for
something casual, but
I still gave Justin my
number because holy
six-pack.
H e c a l l e d m e o n e
night after getting
h o m e f ro m wo r k a s I
was drinking a glass
o f w in e a t my k it c h e n
table post-dinner with
f r i e n d s. A s s o o n a s I
picked up, I could
immediately tell from
his face that our ener-
gi e s we re dif f e re n t. I
was buzzing and feel-
ing social, ready to
laugh and chat it up,
but he was ready to
pass out from exhaus-
tion. Over the next 12
minutes, while he was
telling me that he
was planning on mov-
ing to Chicago soon
(which explained why
he wasn’t looking to
w if e a nyo n e u p r n), I
got the feeling thatthat I knew I would
blow him off if he ever
a s ke d t o m e e t u p in
person. Sayonara,
boy who does not like
pizza jokes.The
takeaway
Not everyone I
connected with was
e a g e r t o s h ow f a c e o n
their phone before
meeting in the flesh.
One guy, Will,
refused to video-chat
with me because
he was “better in
person.” Um, okay.
And Sean declined
because he “never
knows where to look”
(answer: deep into my
eyes, clearly).
So I wouldn’t say
this dating hack is
gonna catch on like
w il d f ire—n o r is it a
foolproof way to find
someone worth
spending your Satur-
day night with. But it
did save me a lot of
effort and expensive
perfume (that I’m run-
ning out of anyway)
and gave me more
time to focus on other
stuff...like finishing
my Bachelorette
application.They’re hiding a
huge chunk of their
face. “As much as I
like yo u r l e f t e ye, c a n
I see more, pls?”
Their bedroom looks
like a Kansas
tornado just came
through it...and you
ain’t no Dorothy.
They’re eating while
talking to you. RUDE!
They keep pausing
the video (definitely
checking Instagram).4 apps with good video features
*All names have been changed. November 2019 Cosmopolitan 87