Although the initial aim of technology was to make our life easier, today, in many instances, it only makes things complicated. It mainly concerns the interpersonal communication. Of course, people can stay in touch with their loved ones through various messengers, video calls, etc. But the truth is, people are abusing indirect communication. Thanks to dating apps, one can find a virtual romantic partner, but a real date may not even happen. 30 years ago everything was simpler: you liked a girl, you asked her out, you went on several dates, after which you were in a relationship. Today, there is too much unnecessary virtual communication. When you decide to ask a girl out, you ask yourself which way of contacting her is the best: a phone call, an SMS, a voicemail, Instagram, Facebook, Viber, Skype, WhatsApp …
Probably, you’ve witnessed such a situation: two lovebirds sitting in a café stare at their phones rather than at each other. A joke about that respect is when you take out your earphones to greet a person, and love is when you turn the music off is no longer a joke – it’s our reality. In what ways technology is ruining romance?
Flirting on the Internet (micro-cheating)
Time goes by so fast online. A few clicks result in a new acquaintance. You upload a new photo and receive a huge boost to your ego reading the compliments. Even if you have a loved one in real life, the attention of your online worshippers is always pleasant. If your partner finds out, a conflict is unavoidable. But you can’t stop flirting with others, because you don’t consider it serious.
Smartphone addiction
It’s difficult to imagine our lives without smartphones. It’s so convenient to have a magical device in your hands that can substitute a computer. However, people get spoiled by the comfort a smartphone can give. For many young people, a smartphone is not a phone in the first place but rather a toy that can keep them entertained. They go to bed and wake up with this device in their hand. Sometimes, they get so immersed in it that they don’t notice their nearest and dearest.
Online dating addiction
Addictiveness is, probably, the main feature of such dating apps as https://badoo.com/ or https://www.gotinder.com/. The idea is to make their users swipe left and right and spend as much time on it as possible. The abundance of choice of potential romantic mates encourages people to swipe endlessly, not actually focusing on particular personalities. It happens so that people perceive online dating as a game. As a result, the idea behind online dating is corrupted.
Exhibiting your life
When social networks only entered our lives, it was exciting and fun to share some new pictures. However, today, people are crazy about exhibiting everything that happens to them, even some intimate moments that are meant for keeping private. If a date went great, you write about it on Facebook. If you broke up with your partner, you post a sad picture of you with a touching caption on Instagram. If you made up, you rush to the computer to change your status.
Catfishing, ghosting, benching, etc
Internet dating has bred new notions, such as ghosting, bread crumbing, benching. Each of them means a certain behavior/attitude towards virtual dates. They are all very frustrating, and I wish you never face any of it. A catfish is a person who pretends to be someone else on a dating site, just to get a date. Ghosting is when your partner disappears from your life, and you never hear of them either online or offline. Zombieing is a subsequent stage of ghosting – when the person who disappeared from your life likes your posts and even texts you again.
