By Kerrigan Arnold
The current generation is missing the allure of love. We don’t go on traditional dates anymore. Dates in today’s world consist of the infamous Netflix and Chill, which rarely includes any actual Netflix – talk about a let-down for binge watchers like me.
Here’s the problem
The excitement of getting dressed up and going out on the town has slowly faded into yesteryear’s generation. We aren’t meeting dates like we used to, and kids are afraid to leave their comfort zone, i.e. leave their phones, let alone talk to someone they don’t know – oh, the horror. If you’re single and ~trying to mingle~, the challenge of getting to know someone is slowly disappearing thanks to an assortment of apps and instant messages. Basically, you can forget going to a coffee shop and sparking up a conversation with the cute guy across the room and possibly getting to know him, that’s obviously way too difficult, and let’s be honest, he’s probably Tinder-ing someone else.
We now think of dating as what we do when we gravitate towards our phones and open up an app that shows us an endless amount of pictures of potential mates. Hot OrNot, Tinder, Plenty of Fish, OKCupid, and even Yik Yak are all apps that we’d rather spend time on, critiquing ourselves to make the perfect profile that will make us absolutely irresistible and prevent a left swipe (gasp).
Here’s how we handle it
We’ve cut out the physical aspect of meeting someone, and getting to know their personality, instead we take a look at a few of their pictures and base our judgment off whether they’re “the one” for us by swiping left or right. We don’t take the time to actually get to know who we’re compatible with and instead we decide whether or not they’re for us by seeing how strong their #selfie game is. Clearly, that trait is more important than charisma, confidence, chemistry, etc. Who cares if they have anything in common with us? Of course other than the fact that they use the same app as us. They look gorgeous in their pictures, and that’s pretty much all it takes to win us over, it seems.
What if we took a step back?
Imagine taking a step back in time, before there were apps or dating sites. How long would someone in this generation last? Would the concept of having to meet someone without the help of social media be too much to handle? It’s time for our generation to take a step out of their comfort zone, turn off the app, and approach people “old-school”.
Take some action
Think the girl in the Student Center is pretty? Go talk to her and get to know her. Find a boy in your class charming? Talk to him, maybe invite him to get coffee.
Don’t depend on a phone to help find love. We can’t spend out whole lives being comfortable and nothing great comes easily. With that being said, there is an exception to every rule.
People can find love on sites like these. However, don’t be consumed by technology and become blind to the amazing qualities of the people around you. We need to quit hiding behind glowing screens and start stepping out of our comfort zone. So, ya know, go on a real date or something.
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