altered the way we date?
Dating is a great part of life for many young people these days. Relationships are very complicated processes that people are trying to arrange in their lives. There are different types of personal connections: friend, family member or significant other. However, we live in the era of technological revolution that has a direct influence on social contacts that people have. There is a number of advantages and disadvantages that advancement of social media and web technology have added to our dating lives.
First of all, dating apps and websites have become a contributing factor to modern love lives. Users of apps can log into the app and find a person who matches that parameter that they are looking for, such as age, gender, preferences. Most of these applications are connected to Facebook, so it is easy to see the preferences of a person who is using the app. Also, they let one find people who are in the same area. One of the main advantages of dating apps is that people who use them are willing to start a relationship and they are seeking for the partner. Today people are living very busy lives and it is very hard to find time to look for a partner. However, we have our phones with us at all times and one may use a dating app in any place and at any moment. For instance, one of the article states that “Half of all teens (50%) have let someone
know they were interested in them romantically by friending them on Facebook or another social media site” (Anderson Web). It is easier to approach someone online than in real life which provides more opportunities for people who are reserved and shy. Therefore, it supports people to start relationships.
Moreover, social media is helping couples to stay in touch in long distance relationships. In our globalized world, partners do not necessarily stay and live in the same country. But if both of them have social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, they will go through this period in their relationship easier. Social media helps couples still to be a part of the life of their partner. It enables people to keep in touch and communicate. With the help of these websites, people can still feel that they are part of the other person’s life.
However, at the same time, technological advances have a negative effect on dating culture. Dating websites create the illusion of choice which makes relationships end faster. If a man meets a woman from the dating websites and he understands that he does not like everything about her, he will go back to the website and try to find someone else. It seems that there is always more and more options in the dating world online. These examples make users so to say lazy in the relationships. They no longer put the effort to build and maintain a strong connection with a partner because it is possible to go back to the website any time and meet a new person. Such approach has already destroyed many relationships and it is likely that if we had less dating apps and websites, people would actually try better to find and build a relationship.
In the world of online dating, strangers meet all the time. But it is hard to predict who will show up on a date in real life. Therefore, social media helps to check a future date on social media. According to Lauren Suval: “Facebook stalking’ approach is used “to reduce some of the
uncertainty in relationships” (Suval Web). It is easy to find and check all the information about the person whom you never met. As a result, one may feel safer going on a date with the virtual stranger.
Being able to contact your partner at all times has a negative impact on the dynamics of the relationship. It is a well-known fact that everyone can see when a user was last seen online. Therefore, in the situation when a girlfriend sends her boyfriend a message on social media but he does not respond right away, but he was seen online, it may cause uncomfortable tension in the relationship. It is likely that girlfriend will think that her boyfriend is ignoring her. When in fact, it may be not true. Social media helps people to keep an eye on each other which may have a destructive effect for connection between some people. Technology does not keep our relationships private anymore. Anyone can get information which may not support the romantic relationship. According to the article “Depending on your privacy settings, status updates may allow your entire online social network to see the changes that take place in your personal life” (It's cheating Web). All the people on the web are able to keep a track of the changes in one’s personal life which sometimes may be not beneficial for a user and hinder his/her future relationships.
In conclusion, it is important to state that modern dating is being affected both positively and negatively by the development of technology and social media. The Internet enables people to check their virtual acquaintance and see if the information that he/she provides is truthful. However, at the same time, technological dating world creates the illusion of choice which slows down the development of many relationships.
Works Cited
Anderson, Monica. "Teen Voices: Dating in the Digital Age." Pew Research Center Internet
Science Tech RSS. N.p., 01 Oct. 2015. Web. 28 Jan. 2017.
"5 Ways Social Media Has Changed the Dating Game." It's Cheating. N.p., 14 Mar. 2012. Web.
28 Jan. 2017.
Suval, Lauren. "Dating and the Impact of Social Media." World of Psychology. N.p., 11 May
2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2017.
