In uncertain times, it’s important to stay connected to family, friends, and loved ones — especially if you’re physically far apart. The spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) has meant that many of Bumble’s community of 90 million worldwide are isolated at home. 

Maintaining social distance doesn’t have to mean loneliness, though. While we at Bumble urge our users to follow the advice of local and national health authorities and stay inside, we hope you’ll take advantage of the Video Chat and Voice Call features within the app to go on virtual dates and get to know new people safely and confidently. 

If there’s ever been a time to get creative with ideas for first (or second, third, or fourth) dates, it’s now. Luckily, both our in-house team at Bumble and you, our community, came through with hundreds of options, ranging from the retro to the racy. (We’ll leave the latter up to you; consenting adults don’t need our help in that department!)

Here are our favorite suggestions for virtual Bumble dates. Look out for more ideas for Bumble Bizz meetups and Bumble BFF hangouts!

Virtual happy hour. By now, you’ve probably hosted or joined some sort of online hangout with your friends or colleagues to toast the end of a long day (or week — it’s hard to keep track)! If you’re just getting to know a Bumble Date match for the first time, you might not want to hand out your phone number or email in order to FaceTime. Fire up the Video Chat feature in the Bumble app and share a cocktail, beer, or iced tea. You can chat with the confidence that if it doesn’t work out, you haven’t given out any personal info. Bonus: you’ll know their go-to drink order if it does seem like there’s chemistry!

Truth or dare. This can be as PG-13 as you want it to be! Truth: when did you last make your bed? Dare: show me the contents of your kitchen cupboard! Maybe your new match will surprise you with his or her pantry preparedness.

TikTok dance-off. Ok, sure. Some of us are over the age of 30. But these are anxious times, and we all need some comic relief, even at our own expense. Challenge your match to a TikTok dance-off. Decide which viral dance you’ll both learn, then reconvene in Bumble’s Video Chat to show off…well, either your skills, or your willingness to self-deprecate.

Virtual “Cribs” tour. There’s a reason we all loved “MTV Cribs” way back when, and why clips from Architectural Digest tours of celebrity homes go viral. We’re all voyeurs when it comes to the inside of other people’s bathroom cabinets and hallway closets. Since most of us are at home anyway, take this opportunity to give your match a virtual tour of your room, apartment, or garden, if you’re lucky enough to have one. Are you a sneakerhead with an impressive collection of Air Max 90s? Or are you honestly just proud you took all those Amazon Prime boxes to the recycling bin? Open up Video Chat inside the Bumble app and make like 2002 Missy Elliott. Bonus: this’ll give you the extra nudge you needed to get that vacuum cleaner out.

Cook together. Decide on a dinner menu based on your food preferences, then follow a simple recipe together over Video Chat. You might discover your match is a burgeoning Alison Roman. Or, conversely, they may not know their cilantro from their cayenne — and that’s ok! We need to prop up the struggling restaurant industry and local small businesses, so if cooking isn’t your or their bag…

Order in together. If you and your match are both in areas with options for delivery, why not order your respective favorite meals and dine in together via Video Chat? You’ll get to learn a little about their culinary tastes. Are they more of a Popeye’s chicken sandwich stan or a pizza person? It’ll get you both thinking about your favorite spots to eat IRL, in hopes of having an in-person date one day.

Make it a movie marathon. There are few better ways to start understanding someone’s personality than to get them talking about their favorite movies. Ask your match to pick their favorite actor, franchise, or genre, or suggest a few ideas of your own. Since many of us have plenty of time on our hands, there’s no good reason not to watch every 1980s John Hughes movie then have long discussions on the relative merits of “The Breakfast Club” vs. “Weird Science,” right?! If movies feel like a commitment, you could agree to start binge-watching a streaming TV series at the same time, or rewatch a comforting classic like “30 Rock” or “The Office” together.

Q+A time. What better way to get to know your Bumble Date match than some probing questions? There are all sorts of games and platforms you can use to get to know each other, but a perennial fave is the Proust Questionnaire, once a parlor game popularized by the French writer but now better known as the 15 questions asked of big-name celebs in each issue of lifestyle magazine Vanity Fair. If that feels a little too heavy for a first date, keep it light and upbeat with Buzzfeed’s ever-reliable cache of quizzes.

Teach-in. Maybe you know a secret recipe for the most insanely delicious oatmeal raisin cookies in the world, passed down from your great-grandma. Or maybe your match wants to teach you to play the guitar, and your roommate will let you dust theirs off and borrow it. Share your skills, and we’ll bet you’ll get to see some of your match’s personality shine through.

Meet the pets. Usually, you’d probably have to wait a few dates to get to meet your match’s dog, cat, bird, fish, or whatever other critters they’re sharing their space with while hunkered down. Introduce your own beloved pets to your match too — and if you’re able, take your date with you on a brief, socially-distant walk over Video Chat!

Get competitive. Are you a Scrabble whiz? Better at Trivial Pursuit? Challenge your match to an evening of digital games, and check in on their snack situ via Video Chat.

Keep it cultural. Being sequestered at home doesn’t mean missing out on all the worlds of art and music have to offer. Institutions ranging from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia are offering digital tours and performances. If that’s not your kind of fun, Boston’s famous New England Aquarium is offering virtual visits. If you can’t bond over baby sea lions, there might not be much hope for your romantic future!

Look to the stars. Do you know your star sign? Probably, but what about your rising sign? Have you ever taken a look at your birth chart? Even if you’re not what one might call a believer in all things astrology and zodiac, you can learn a lot about your match just by reading each other’s horoscopes and gauging their reactions. And, uh, maybe keep this guide to the most compatible zodiac signs on hand.

Show and tell: internet edition. We’re willing to make a bet that you have a folder somewhere on your phone of your favorite memes, Vines (RIP), YouTube videos, and screenshotted tweets that make you weep laughing when you re-read them. Now’s the time to share your faves and ask your match to do the same, right in the Bumble app. You might find a brand new Kris Jenner classic to add to your repertoire!

Play with playlists. Think of this as the 2020 version of making your teenage crush a mixtape or burning them a CD. Create a playlist on Spotify (or the music platform of your choice) and share it with your match; ask them to reciprocate. You’ll learn about their favorite genres, artists, and songs as well as keeping your at-home-workout playlist fresh. (And remember to link your Spotify account to your Bumble profile to let potential dates know that your top artists are all ‘90s boy bands, without shame!)