Back in the dating days of old, you met someone and then waited for them to call you.

Now you wait for them to follow you on Instagram, ‘friend’ you on Facebook, message you via WhatsApp and, if they’re really old school, they might even toss an email your way.

‘Calling’ in the traditional sense of the word is out of the question.

Until now – sort of. The WhatsApp voice note seems to have built a bridge between the two.

Over to Amy Sutton, who describes her experience of voice-noting with her now-boyfriend to Mashable.

When Amy Sutton first started dating her now-boyfriend, they spent hours on end sending voice notes back and forth. Not texts, voice notes.

Sutton would record these messages while cooking or cleaning, or when she was in the bath. “It was like a whole evening together but without having to put on makeup.” Sutton describes these evenings spent voice noting as mini dates.

To her, the exchange felt more intimate than texting, and gave her “a greater sense of who someone is, their sense of humour.” It was “less pressure than a phone call,” she says.

Voice notes have become a way for people, who meet potential partners almost exclusively online, to figure out whether or not they’re a personality match.

GQ columnist Sarah Manavis — who wrote an explainer on the new trend — tells me that voice noting has become “a new, logical relationship step” — a stepping stone that exists “somewhere between exchanging numbers and the actual first date.”

For some, hearing the sound of a match’s voice and the way they talk can help them determine if there’s a spark. Louise Kitchingham tells me she uses voice notes as a “pre-date screen” and she doesn’t understand why more people don’t do this. “You need to know how they speak and sound and it gives you a good indicator as to if they can think on their feet,” she says. “If they sounded a bit ‘off’ then they wouldn’t get a date.”

It’s a good way to suss out whether or not there’s a connection.

Dating apps are coming on board, too.

David Vermeulen, CEO and founder of app The Inner Circle, says voice noting can “help people filter out the bad dates” by moving towards “a more human connection.”

“This isn’t about judging a book before opening it, but an exciting addition to the pre-date build-up, and a sneak peak of what is to come,” he says.

Rad.

If it means an end to crappy dates, then great.

Just a friendly reminder to keep it clean – that’s your voice, recorded, and forever on his or her phone.

[source:mashable]