Now more than ever, people our age do not take relationships seriously. You text the people you might be interested in, you may like their pictures on Instagram, and you might be “talking” to a few people. But there are no boundaries to these kind of things when it actually comes to dating. We have lost sight as to what being in a relationship means, and there are a lot of ways being with someone has turned into a game.
It’s cooler to have many options, not just one priority.
It’s typical for people in relationships to be made fun of by their friends or their other peers: “You’re so whipped” or “You spend too much time with your boyfriend/girlfriend.” It seems like you get more credit if you have a list of people to talk to, but without having a commitment to any of them. The word option also turns things into a recreational activity. If there aren't serious terms to your relationship, it’s easy to avoid making them a priority. To have one person you’re fully committed to does not seem as valuable as it should be.
Dating has become dependent on social media.
There’s no sense in actually going on a date with someone else when you can learn everything you need to know about them through texting, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You meet someone, you give them your number, and then you learn everything to know about them over words on a phone screen. It’s easier to start fights over liking pictures on Instagram or following someone on Twitter. A simple "favorite" or "thumbs up" creates worlds of problems in relationships and makes the other person play the same game. A lot of jealously stems from social media, while the face-to-face aspect of the relationship is nonexistent.
Defining the relationship is terrifying.
“Well, yeah, we’ve been texting for months and we hang out at parties a lot, but I don’t know what we actually are. I don’t want to ask and scare them off.” Asking someone what their intentions are with you seems unnerving; seeing if someone has the same feelings as you is bone-chilling; so we avoid it altogether. You can’t get mad for them talking to someone else because you guys aren’t official, right? The most defining thing our generation has is whether or not you’re someone’s man-crush Monday or woman-crush Wednesday. The obligation to tell someone how you feel becomes the biggest game of all.
This generation has a skewed outlook on relationships, and it makes being with someone undesirable. To change that, make someone your priority, not one of many options. Don’t let social media run your possible relationships, and if you want to know what is going on with someone you like, ask them. Being with someone is simple: all you have to do is press the power button on the game.
