IS SPEED A QUICK TO FIND

Reporter Katie-Ann Gupwell

IN A world where Tinder is the place to be and Love Island reigns supreme, do couples still meet by actually just talking face to face? After spending a week on Tinder to get some insight as to what it’s like to date online I thought I’d try another way, speed dating.

It tells you how fast the world of dating is changing that people in their 20s think of speed dating as old fashioned while anyone over 35 sees it as a new, modern thing.

What I wanted to know is whether, at a time most people are glued to their phones and spend, I’d say, 90% of their time talking on social media, do people actually still want to meet up and get to know each other?

For a social experiment, I signed up.

I booked onto an event in Cardiff, filled in a form and dived into the world of the unknown.

I didn’t really know what to expect, I didn’t really know how popular it would be – but I found out.

Speed dating is not a thing of the past – it’s alive and well and there are lots of events people can attend.

Now onto the juicier bits, what happened?

Let me start with the not so good parts. To be honest, they were more personal dislikes rather than major problems.

Firstly, it was a bit surreal. Not strange – but surreal.

I think it was more because I’m not used to doing anything like this, but it was quite strange to talk to so many people about the same things over and over again in one night.

Most people came with a mate for moral support, which you can completely understand, but a lot of guys commented on it when they talked to me.

I was told I was “bold”, “confident” and “impressive”. If I’m honest, I’m wouldn’t really say I’m any of those things, I’m just used to doing things on my own.

I just turned up, sat down and chatted to people like I was meant to.

In a way it made me a bit sad that so many people commented on it – not because I felt like I was on my own but because I don’t think you need to be brave to do things on your own.

An awkward question was: “What would your ideal idea of a first date be?”

Let’s be frank – any date would be nice.

In my opinion, you really should be with someone because you want to be with them, and that’s that.

I don’t know if four minutes is really enough time to make a judgement about someone, but it did give enough time to see if someone was genuine or not.

At the very least, it gave you a chance to see that there are some really nice, chatty guys around – even if they’re not the one for you. And now, for the good bits. It’s definitely a way to meet people – people from different backgrounds, with different stories, who you’d never get to meet unless you did something like this.

Even if you just came away with a new friend, I’d say it’s a good tool to just throw yourself into talking to people and getting to know them.

For me, the most refreshing thing to come out of it was to see that people can actually still hold a conversation and show an interest in the person you are.

Not to sound awful, but social media has definitely had an effect on the way people are able to communicate.

Dating apps, as popular as they are, are all about judging people on their looks until you get to know them a bit better.

And as for really dodgy chat-up lines on a night out, I’ve heard enough of those to last me a life time.

From the cheesy classics like “Remember me? Oh, that’s right, I’ve met you only in my dreams”, to the rather less appealing, “I would stick my tongue in you”, I’ve heard many horrific attempts to start a conversation.

Speed dating forces you to engage in conversation – you have to ask questions, find out about what they do and what their interests are to see if you can actually connect.

In my opinion, it’s a much nicer way of meeting people if you want to put yourself out there.

Talking is much nicer when it’s not done sending messages via a screen, but if you can’t hold a basic chat things will get majorly awkward very quickly.