Has Technology changed dating?
Now although online dating has been around for a while now, before you used to have to fill out exhaustive questionnaires to hopefully find “the one”. However with the advent of Tinder, access to hundreds of singles in your nearby area becomes increasingly easier. Some would say the dating game is as easy as it has ever been before. But I wanted to do a little research in to how technology is changing dating in 2018.
Well one change that instant communication has changed is that relationships move quicker. When you start dating someone these days, it quickly becomes about “going public,” because if you are together, why shouldn’t the internet world know? There has always been a lot of pressure regarding “defining the relationship,”. On top of this apps like Tinder give users the ability to feel they know a person before they have even met the person.
Tinder gives us more options, constantly flicking through the available singles. As a nation we are becoming more judgemental. It is a simple psychological fact that when we as humans are bombarded with an abundance of choice we become pickier. Many agree that Tinder is undoubtedly shallow due to the prejudging of a potential match primarily on physical appearances. I’d hardly call a quirky tagline an insight in to someone’s personality.
However, the company defensively insists that it mirrors the way things work in real life. Attraction to physical appearance tends to precede everything else. Tinder has taken that and rolled it into a simple platform. So has technology really changed the dating game dramatically?
However it’s not just Tinder that is changing dating. Social Media in a general sense can cause relationships to become destructive. It leads to social anxiety and fear that you can just find someone better online. Relationships have broken down due to people being caught out on snap maps. You only have to Google to find some hilarious stories on this. I’ll leave a link to one article. Constant communication and likes becoming a measure of how good looking someone is can lead to insecurities in a relationship. It only takes an ex to like a picture on Instagram for all hell to break loose. In this sense I would argue dating has changed due to the various mediums of expression and communication.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/snap-map-is-exposing-people-who-cheat-2017-6?r=US&IR=T
Dating apps have grown relentlessly. Worldwide spend was £234m in 2016, but nearly double that — £448m — in 2017, says app research firm App Annie. However there seems to be a dark reality behind the success of the technological advancement of dating. On the surface people may say we’re lazy and prefer to socialise without putting any effort, but the reality is far from that and quite dark. In today’s world, we are constantly running and pursuing success, money, and stability. Finding job security and stability whilst maintaining a lifestyle is difficult. Nowadays, most have to juggle several jobs or do freelance in order to pay the bills. Who has the time or energy to head to the bar and strike a conversation with a stranger when Social media apps like Tinder allow us to meet people more easily?
Apps like Tinder allow us to go through the entire dating process as many times as we want. Tinder works in the same way as going to a bar looking to hook up with someone. First, you scan the room to see the available options, then you choose those you like, and only then you talk to them to see how they’re really like. People at the same time make profiles of themselves and show what they want and there’s nothing new there either. It empowers users in giving them the ability to show the version of themselves they want others to see which is artificial. Therefore dating I believe has been impacted the options and ways you can now meet people however it is fair to say the way in which you meet and engage follows the same process as it always had.
To conclude I wouldn’t say that dating apps have changed modern relationships but rather act as a convenient tool that enable us to pursue relationships in this hectic modern lifestyle. However I would say that constant communication and surveillance through instant messaging, snap maps and looking at snap stories can lead to an unhealthy obsession which can be destructive to relationships. On the flip side of this it has also led to many benefits for long distance relationships. Therefore I believe technology has had more of an impact on dating as opposed to changing the way in which we date.