Skip to main content

Love Is Quarantine: Instagram dating show pairs couples in ‘pandemic pods’

Love doesn’t have to take a backseat during COVID-19

In the style of Netflix’s breakout reality show Love Is Blind comes the Instagram version, @loveisquarantine — where Instagram users interested in friendship, or romance, are matched up via Google Docs and connected for their own “pandemic pod” date that very night. But here’s the catch: the “pods” aren’t pods, but just wherever participants are self-isolating from the coronavirus

Roommates Thi Lam and Rance Nix launched the @loveisquarantine account Tuesday night, and it works like this: Users access the Google Doc and enter their first name and what sex they are interested in meeting, along with their phone number. Later in the evening, if chosen, each participant will be paired with someone they don’t know and entered in a group chat with the match and Lam and Nix. 

View this post on Instagram

Texting our contestants!!!

A post shared by LOVE IS QUARANTINE (@loveisquarantine) on

Participants then call each other for 30 minutes to start the date, after receiving some basic guidelines from the creators. Before, during, and after the date, each participant makes a video talking about what the experience was like. Each video is then posted on the @loveisquarantine account in sequence, showcasing all the dates from that night. Tuesday night’s experiment consisted of 12 pod dates — 24 people — and some even found success. It seemed Tuesday night’s “it” couple was Brooke and Red, according to social media users sounding off in the comments. 

Don’t want to participate yourself? You can watch the whole thing play out on the Love Is Quarantine account. Creators Lam and Nix live-stream from their personal accounts, as well as frequently post to the @loveisquarantine account throughout the selection process and dates.  

As of Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the account was created, over 370 new people signed up for “Season 2” via the Google Doc link, and the Instagram account’s following reached over 4,000 followers, and grows by the minute. Shortly after Elite Daily published a story about the experiment, submissions for season 2 closed. Lam and Nix confirmed to the publication that the selection process is totally random, and that they plan to keep the project going “until we have jobs again.”

Wednesday night’s episode will air tonight at 7:30 EST.

Editors' Recommendations

Meira Gebel
Meira Gebel is a freelance reporter based in Portland. She writes about tech, social media, and internet culture for Digital…
Twitter gives blue check mark to dead folks
Twitter logo in white stacked on top of a blue stylized background with the Twitter logo repeating in shades of blue.

The continuing saga of Twitter and its blue check mark has taken a bizarre twist as it seems that a number of deal celebrities are now paying for Twitter Blue.

On the orders of new owner Elon Musk, Twitter last week started removing blue check marks from accounts that have not signed up for Twitter Blue, its premium tier.

Read more
These are the 10 most-viewed YouTube videos of all time
The red and white YouTube logo on a phone screen. The phone is on a white background.

Being popular is about the only thing the current most-viewed YouTube videos have in common with their top-performing predecessors. Even though YouTube videos like Chocolate Rain went viral during the first few years of YouTube's content, they probably wouldn't be among the kinds of videos that go viral on the platform now.

In fact, children's programming and music videos are now among the most-viewed content on YouTube. Music videos, in particular, have enjoyed great success on the streaming site and, until recently, had been the majority of the most-viewed videos in YouTube's history. Music videos still account for 40% of the top 10 most-viewed videos, however. The other 60% is content for young children. If these view counts are anything to go by, the video-sharing site could be considered a leading platform for music videos and kid-friendly content, rather than just the memeworthy viral videos the site was known for in its early days.
What is the most-viewed YouTube video of all time?
Baby Shark Dance is the most-viewed video ever on YouTube. The children's song overtook the all-Spanish version of Despacito in November 2020.
What are the top 10 most-viewed YouTube videos?

Read more
Elon Musk says he’s appointed a new Twitter CEO
A digital image of Elon Musk in front of a stylized background with the Twitter logo repeating.

Twitter owner Elon Musk has found someone to replace him as the company’s CEO, but he hasn't revealed who it is.

Musk tweeted on Thursday that the new CEO will step into the role at some point over the next six weeks.

Read more