Don't you catch yourself wondering this sometimes too? Things and times have changed so much it seems to be taking the little things with it. With this new age of technology and social media, interactions have gone to texting, tweeting, and re-tweeting the same things to show "a common interest". Additionally, with all these relationship goals that are circulating the internet, we are being influenced to rush by the stage where we go on dates and get to know each other, to secure some type of a relationship. I thinks it's a bit absurd and I know I'm not the only one in this boat.

While I do believe that even during the course of relationships people still learn a lot about each other, I still think dates serve that main purpose. I believe it's an integral part in getting to actually build a firm foundation for a relationship. You get to enjoy the company of the other person, talking, getting to know more about their interests, sharing yours and really getting that chance to see if they're right for you. Instead, we introduce ourselves, go through that "we're talking" stage with texting and all these things, and then get together. For some people, it works just fine, but for the rest of us-- if we should be honest-- it doesn't.

Now, where do we place the blame for this issue? Do we blame the individuals? Technology? Society? How about all three? Personally, I believe each factor contributes greatly. Individuals are a part of society and when the standards, norms and values in society shift, that inevitably means people's belief systems shift as well. However, society's standards don't just change on it's own, technology and social media has a lot to do with it. So once people start something online, the direct and indirect messages transcend and becomes a "thing" in our society, our generation, and it just happens all over again. It's basically a circular domino effect.

Despite the majority, there's a good amount of guys who still hold strong to chivalry. They still believe in courting the women they admire and for that I have to give them credit.

So with all that been said, and trying to be of positive influence, I say be courteous, go on dates, have fun, make memories and build relationships because unlike phones which can be destroyed with cute texts and images, memories never fade.