In the movies it all makes sense. In the movies, there's the girl with the glasses shuffling through the contents of her tote bag looking for the pencil she happened to forget that day. Then, across the 2nd floor of the Library, the boy with the perfectly messed up hair spots her, picks up his extra pencil, offers it to her, and then all of a sudden they are chatting away. Soon to be lovers, completely starstruck and in awe. In the movies, boy meets girl at the local coffee shop and they exchange numbers and their day goes on. But, in real life, these things just don't happen anymore. Dating in 2018 consists of a very ritualized three step process:
1. Dating Apps
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram direct messages, and then onto more specialized apps like Tinder and Bumble have been the root of relationships in today's age. The reality is, if one of those movie scenes happened in real life, people get creeped out by strangers approaching them and asking for personal information like a phone number or last name. Today, if a guy walks up to a girl in a coffee shop, or at the gym, or doing homework at the library, chances are he has no chance at all. The irony here is that we do not allow ourselves to meet people naturally and we instead search for a relationship on some internet platform where we actually have no clue who these people really are. We trust photos and videos and just assume people are interested for the same reasons as you. If you both have the same intentions, the blind date progresses into a relationship- leading me to part 2.
2. Social Media
Now, you're dating. Congrats! Your internet Mr. Right turned out to be alright after all. Its been a few weeks now but be careful not to post him on your snapchat because it's too soon, you know? Oh, and don't you dare send him the link to update his relationship status on Facebook... way too official. He has to make the first move. He has to be the one to post a cute Instagram post with the caption "She's pretty cool" until you have the green light to do so yourself. Now, it's been a few weeks, you no longer have to wait 10 mins before you open up his snapchat or read his text message. You've moved on to the next phase where you're no longer hiding your significant other from the face of your internet world but you HAVE to post with them. You go on twitter and you see dozens of girls writing things like "If you don't post pics of your person online do you even like them?" which only makes you feel insecure and confused. You want him to post cute things and when he doesn't you fight and argue because "all your friends' boyfriends do that!" Eventually it becomes tiring and if neither of you can find common ground between the platform of a social media world and your own individual relationship and you'll break up. This ultimately leads me to part 3.
3. Dating Apps
Back to Tinder we go. Maybe this one will be different. Good luck!
