In today’s world where we are driven by technology, with find ourselves with an array of dating apps and social media platforms where it is so easy to meet new people. The act of dating has been significantly transformed because a lot of the traditional face-to-face dating process has been replaced by a device. It is almost like people are more comfortable initiating contact with a prospective partner via a screen than any romantic connection.
The writer knows that this new era of dating is exhausting. Hours and hours of text messaging, studying your Instagram posts multiple times an hour to see who of your internet discussions have liked them. Hundreds of Snapchat stories watched and interacted with to decide if they are interested or not is tiring. It’s more than having a full time job, it interferes with your full time job as it becomes uncontrollably absorbing.
We now sit around initiating contact with and wait by the minute for that special someone to text us back. Now, we have everyone with their phones glued to their hips. So, on no quick reply, we beat ourselves up ask ourselves “Why aren’t they answering?” “Does this mean they don’t like me?” To make ourselves feel better, we conclude that they are just busy or are away from their phones, at the end of the day, if there is no reply, we let our minds wander to bad places and on the back of lots of ‘no replies’ the world can become a very dark place.
We read into every emoji, character, and punctuation that gets sent to us and ask ourselves, “Is it okay for me to text them again?” Sitting around examining messages over and over again, with no indication of the actual tone or intention of each. we eventually have to come to terms with the fact that we may be waiting for the perfect text message that will never come.
It has also become so common, it is almost acceptable, that relationships simply finish by the act of not answering a partners messages. This has been given the term ghosting someone. Imagine if you were on a traditional date, and your partner just stopped talking in the middle of the dinner and walked out without saying anything. That would be seen by society as we once knew it as completely unacceptable. Yet, this is the equivalent to the act of cyber ghosting someone.
Connecting via the many and varied social media methods, its become such that you don’t even know what it means to be in a real relationship. If you don’t post a picture of you and your new friend on Instagram, is your relationship actually official? If you don’t change your relationship status on Facebook, are you actually in a relationship. These are the types of dilemmas we find necessary to ask ourselves and get answers for.
Relationships and romance as we once knew it or read about seems to be dying out to the point where a call from someone asking you out on an date is now a thing of the past. It is becoming very popular to even order a girlfriend experience. Social media is even allowing ‘confidential’ introductions with Mayfair Confidential with very popular Twitter and Pinterestsocial media accounts bringing people together every hour of every day.
If things keep going the way they are, maybe one day dates will just be people sitting in their own homes, messaging each other while they have brunch or dinner on their own!
A novel thought, if you are planning on arranging a date to find your significant other, why not try the old-fashioned route. Give your desired one a call and ask them out. How novel would that be! On the first date, turn your phone off and have a night of unforgettable conversation. Get to know one another on a deeper level, and that’s how healthy relationships truly get underway. Try it!
