It's all the buzz on Twitter: the addicting, time-consuming video game that every high school and college-aged boy seems to be playing. Most of these tweets are coming from the enraged fingers of girlfriends who have lost their boyfriends to the never-ending trap that is Fortnite. Frustrated that a video game is given more attention, more focus and more concern than their relationship is, the mob of angry girlfriends seems to grow every minute. And I'm here to say the complaining needs to stop.
This whole issue of “lack of attention” stems from a bigger problem than just a silly video game that your boyfriend seems to play all the time. These days, we need to feel connected to our friends, family, and significant other at all times. Through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram -- the options are endless to keep tabs on the people you care about. We have, as a human race, become accustomed to knowing exactly what people are doing, with who, and where. This goes to an even further extent when it comes to boyfriends and girlfriends. We tend to think that because we are in a relationship, we are the first priority in our significant other's life. While it is important to be there for each other, it’s also necessary to realize there are other priorities in someone’s life, especially as college students.
At this point in our lives, we are figuring out the future. Homework, clubs, keeping active and endless studying can make it hard to have limitless time to spend spoiling your girlfriend. Because our society has become so used to hundreds of “likes," we crave that attention all the time. We want to know we are pretty. Cared about. Loved. And when we don’t get the instant gratification, we get irritable and frustrated. Someone doesn’t respond to a text fast enough and suddenly your mind is racing thinking of what they could be doing without you. This is unhealthy and has created a new human necessity: Unlimited attention.
So yes, Fortnite is not my favorite thing in the world, but maybe it is time we cut our BFs a break here, ladies. After all, I’m sure they aren’t the biggest fan of Grey’s Anatomy but they watch it with us anyways. Relationships are about taking and giving, compromise. Not only that, but at the end of the day any healthy relationship is supposed to enhance the person you already are, not complete you and cause dependency. Growing as a person on your own is always a good thing, and you can thank Fortnite for giving you a little extra time every day to do something for yourself, maybe something you wouldn’t do with your guy! Paint your nails, get coffee with your friends, etc. We all need a little bit of a break for ourselves, no matter how much we may love spending time with our significant other.
From a former Fortnite-hater to a tolerant bystander, I feel that there is so much opportunity for relationships to grow from a little time apart each day. It's normal to NOT know exactly what your other half is up to every second of the day. So boys, game on; we’re here for it.
