It’s about that time; Valentine’s Day is right on the horizon. Roses and candy hearts will begin to rain down, and inspirational love tweets will flood our timelines.
Reflecting on this upcoming Valentine’s Day, I start to think about relationships in this generation. The rules of dating change almost every year, especially as technology becomes more advanced. My conclusion of the sudden change of the dating world is that it has basically become way past complicated.
We live in the age of “catfishing” and leaving direct messages on Twitter. It would be really easy to blame the growth of social networking for the sudden disconnect in the world of dating, but it all comes down to us as human beings. We have settled for the convenience that technology has afforded us over actually developing connections that lead to lasting relationships.
With the emergence of online dating and the whole online world that surrounds us, we have become confused as a society on the definition of a relationship. It is one thing to use technology to find a relationship, but it is a whole different game when those relationships are carried out over the internet. My personal opinion is, if you cannot touch the person before the label of relationship is even brought up in conversation, then it is not a real relationship.
I know we are not in the age of our parents, where words are exchanged through face-to-face communication rather than through text messaging or a social network. We do not believe in “going steady” any more; we have become more about relations than relationships.
Please do not take this as a girl complaining that chivalry is dead. I know there are guys that still open doors and walk on the outside of the sidewalk. This is a plea to get back to the basics of dating, the simple request to have a conversation face to face instead of between computer screens.
We should actually enjoy the company of one another, rather than the emoji’s we send. In college, I feel that it is safe to say that most of us are not looking for our soul mates and are on fixed budgets, so grand gestures are not that common anymore, but a simple hello would suffice at times. Instead of finding those who catch our eye on Twitter and flooding their direct messages, try to actually hold a conversation.
I will admit that in our generation the traditional dating rituals have changed or become nonexistent. The dinner and movie date is gone due to economic reasons; the movies cost just as much as dinner. We no longer wait three days before calling, we just send a text and pray that a reply flashes across our screen in a day or two.
Men are not expected to pay for everything, due to feminist views that have taken control of our society’s way of thinking. I personally miss those days where conversation became the base of a relationship, not what is said on social networks and dating profiles. Simply put, it is time to go back to basics.
Amber Patterson is a sophomore majoring in marketing and public relations. Her column runs weekly on Wednesdays.
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