Are Casual Relationships Over? How Daters Are Finding Deeper Connections

Meeting IRL Events and The Collective Shift Toward Committed Relationships

📷: Rayna Tobin

Meeting IRL is trending. Dating apps are in the doghouse. And, daters, or Gen Z, are pushing for deeper connections. In our complex dating world, returning to the basics isn’t a bad idea, before modern technology, that was the main purpose of dating–finding a unique connection with someone to build a committed relationship with. But dating trends, app culture, and social media’s dissection of dating have left us numb. Daters have lost their nerve searching for a solution or reason to feel again.  

And that solution may be more relationship stability. Relationships with solid foundations and room for depth.

But what does that mean for casual relationships and the culture of exploration? 

There are still plenty of people still looking for something casual. This means dating various people, feeling intimacy, and connecting without commitment. It’s not a wrong way to date, but it requires more open communication than one thinks. Casual dating sits dangerously close to situationships, a relationship created by a lack of communication and honest intentions. 

Casual relationships can thrive if all parties are privy to each other’s intentions. They run into trouble when one person is looking for something casual, and the other is trying to dig deeper into the connection. Thus, causing situationships. A vicious cycle that leaves half the daters discouraged, frustrated, and craving more. Now, the dating world is ringing a collective buzz for intentional connection. People want to build on a level much deeper than the situational line. Give them their grandparents’ love or give them single solidarity. 

The problem is, that the post-covid world hasn’t prepared us with the best communication skills. There’s the fear of allowing someone new into our comfort bubbles. We’ve been sitting behind screens keeping things casual for too long. But fortunately for singles, the path to finding like-minded, committed individuals isn’t a lonely one.

The buzz for deeper relationships has found land in the dating world. 

IRL single events are making waves, and not the ones curated by the apps—events with an intentional mission to bring daters together in authentic ways. These inclusive events invite people to connect without screens and find like-minded people almost immediately. Event companies like BODA, Bored of Dating Apps, and Met Thru Friends, have found momentum without dropping a dating app name. Single events are born out of the idea that daters are looking for more. They are cutting out the middleman of dating apps and bringing people back to the OG ways of meeting with a Millennial Gen Z twist. It’s not just a group of singles at a bar, but a collective of daters searching for a deeper connection. 

Think more intentional conversations and stronger connections. Single events are prepping stations for fearful daters. A catch and release helping them ease back into the dating world with a safe place to practice their communication skills. Daters can implement these skills in any dating situation, even those looking for something casual.

Because in all honesty, casual relationships aren’t dead. It is a valid dating goal, just maybe one that is losing trending status. The shift in conversation towards commitment reflects the social environment around us. The dating world has promoted a casual approach for too long. And it’s time for a change. Daters are now feeling motivated to break the chains of dating “normalcy.”

Essentially, we’re willing to overcome our fears to feel again. The solution is deeper connections, but the journey to that solution is communication. One that can foster healthier relationships, casual, committed, and all the in-between. In an ideal world, every dater communicates and shares their intentions, and everyone lives happily ever after in their desired relationships. However, self-awareness comes at different levels. The one that matters the most is our own. It’s how we’ll reach our personal goal. Committal or casual, practicing communicating our intentions and needs can only bring us closer to a person or persons.

All aside, the collective is reaching for authenticity. But the movement towards emotionally committed relationships could be the thing the dating world needs to balance the scale. All relationship goals can exist in harmony with clear intentions and communication, but it’s time for committed relationships to take center stage. They can teach us how to connect again on an authentic, honest level. It’s worth a try, right?

The dating world needs to get its feeling back into its toes ASAP.  

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