Texting..the new way to date?

All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness. ~Mark Kennedy

I, by no means claim to be a relationship expert, against social media, or against new, flashy technology and I wouldn’t complain if you gave me a new iPhone or Droid this minute. I just find it fascinating how this has become the age of text-based relationships, Facebook stalking, and online break-ups. What happened to breaking up with someone in person or asking them to go “official” in person? I’ve definitely experienced relationships where one of the primary means of communication was via texting. At first it was because I was shy in person, I hated awkward dates, but then it just became a relationship habit which turned into being tracked by someone or tracking someone 24/7 almost. I guess it’s easier to start a new relationship by texting than having to deal with the awkward getting to know you moments, but think of how many normal ways there are to follow the person you’re dating that can cause issues in relationships.

To start, texting has transformed the dating game. Although texting is so incredibly convenient, when it becomes 80% of your relationship you’re going to have issues. When you start fighting over text messaging and iming, you know you’re spending too much time talking to each other and fighting over petty things.

First off, I believe when people fight over text and IM they say worse things than they normally would to your face or over the phone. They can get away with saying anything over texting and not have to deal with the consequences until they choose to. Texting seems to be the cowardly approach to resolving issues without having to face the person.

Also, it seems like guys these days would rather carry on a conversation over Blackberry messenger, Googletalk, texting, etc. than having to call a girl. I’m not old school, but I would like to be called every once in a while. I get texting is convenient and makes it easy to multi-task, but when is it too much? Girls want that personal connection and you don’t get the same warm fuzzy feeling from living behind your phone or computer. There is no emotion behind texting and you can never fully tell exactly what that person meant. Was it sarcasm? I love you’s over texting are not the same...

Then there’s the response time issue. When you’re always responding and don’t respond for a couple hours of your life it turns into, “why are you ignoring me?” or “what’s wrong?”

Obviously texting is not going anywhere and will be used for a while, but cutting this habit out of your life is more difficult than most people think. Facebook is another can of worms unto itself….

For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three. ~Alice Kahn