Imagine it is the 1920s: there is no such thing as an iPhone, lovers write letters to communicate, and courtship is still a norm. Over the past 100 years, dating has changed exceedingly, but has it become more complex? The Dart staff evaluated whether the complexities of relationships have increased or decreased through the past generations.
The answer to this question was unanimously “yes.” However, many opinions varied on why dating is complicated now.
The most obvious change to relationships over the years has been the rise of technology and social media. Social media effects many spheres of a relationship: meeting someone, communication and trust.
Today, many people meet online. Through different platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, it is definitely easier to discover different people. However, never encountering your significant other in person can complicate things, possibly leading to disappointment. One member referenced the phrase “wdyll warriors,” which are typically boys on Snapchat that start conversation with someone through the phrase “what do you like?”
Staffers pointed out that even if a couple meets in person, they will most likely exchange social media handles, rather than their numbers. Communicating through social media and even text instead of in person can make a relationship very perplexing. Tone can be completely misread, lack of timely responses can cause tension and even catfishing situations can arise.
When relationships are so dependent on an online presence, staffers explained the difficulty of defining a relationship. Many said that labels simply don’t exist anymore, which is understandable when there is already an unlimited number of names for a couple: talking stage, situationship, taken, etc.
Some staffers question the role men have in this lack of communication. Because women today have more autonomy and control of relationships then they may have historically had, many feel that sometimes women’s effort is not reciprocated by men.
With all these complications developing through time, it’s easy to think that the dating process has developed immensely negative complications. However, there are some ways dating has simplified over the course of time.
Having an online presence has giving people a new opportunity to meet. Instead of falling under the pressure of courting someone in one’s community, people can fall in love with someone they have found on their own. People can also stay in touch with their loved ones easier because technology connects long distance relationships.
Whether relationships are more or less complicated than past generations, staffers agree that people still fall in love, which lasts through the decades.
