Yes

It does not really matter where or how you meet someone. What matters is how you connect with that person. Dating apps are prevalent and so popular today because they help individuals to connect with so many people, probably many more people than they would through traditional methods of socialising. You may even get to connect with people whom you might never get a chance to meet outside of social media platforms. An advantage with dating apps is that you can filter potential “candidates” quickly and efficiently. While it’s true that this takes away the mystery and romance of traditional dating, people just don’t have time for that anymore. 

I personally prefer to go on a face-to-face date and I think that most progress to that after the initial online dating. However, I have friends who met their partners through online platforms and are now happily married. On the flipside, I have also heard horror stories of dates, both initiated through social media and face-to-face, gone wrong. I guess there is a bit of luck and patience involved, and regardless of where you find love, affairs of the heart cannot be rushed.

Director of marketing and communications of jewellery house Mouawad’s operations in Asia, Jessica loves being surprised, and appreciates when her partner shows effort and thought in anything he does

No

I’m not a fan of online dating because I believe that relationships are and should be private. However, everyone has a different style and approach to dating, which should be wholly respected. In my view, being active on a mobile dating app like Tinder or OkCupid broadcasts to people that you’re looking for an expedited solution to dating and also, that the most important impression to you is a surface-level view on appearance. 

Photographs do not give us an accurate view of a person’s views, habits, personality, hopes and dreams. For me, just 10 per cent of what would seal a relationship is down to physical attractiveness, while I’d attribute 80 per cent to her personality—her intrinsic self—and another 10 per cent to how well she and my family get along. Technology already plugs so many aspects of our lives. Why should we let it govern some of our most intimate feelings as well? 

Despite carrying a well-known family name and being a brand ambassador of Argentine polo fashion label La Martina, Ameer strongly believes in keeping his love and personal life out of the public eye

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No

I believe it’s important to better acquaint oneself, especially in person, with the other party before expressing an interest in them or agreeing to go out on a date together. With that human-to-human interaction, you’ll get a more accurate sense of their intentions and real personality, which may be very different from their online persona. As much as social media and apps such as Tinder and Couple have brought people closer, overcome physical distances, reconnected long-lost friends, and in some cases, led to true love and marriage, ours may just be the most antisocial generation yet that’s closer to our phones than anything or anyone else. 

I’m a supporter of good old-fashioned romance. By that, I mean putting the personal touch into nurturing a possible relationship—something no app or technology can replace. The sincerity that is expressed by putting pen to paper to write a letter, or overcoming jitters to personally ask someone out on a date also embodies sentimental value. Then there’s the whole range of feelings that are ignited in face-to-face interactions. These are the stuff of powerful memories of a lifetime. Initiating a date from behind a computer or mobile phone on the other hand does not enable the same kind of deep communion and connection which traditional wooing methods bring. At the end of the day, wouldn't a real life story with heartfelt human-to-human exchanges that go beyond smart phones and emails be sweeter and far more memorable?

Cheryl, who is an actress and the daughter of recognised businesswoman Jean Yip appreciates the connectivity that social media brings, but when it comes to affairs of the heart, she prefers old-school dating habits right down to the guy making the first move