Gavin Wickremasuriya
Jill Moses
English 101
15 November 2014
The Contradictions Technology and Dating What is dating? I always thought it was when two people get to know each other on an intimate level. It’s a safe place to flirt and express your interest in the opposite (or same) sex. According to Jill Moses, "Dating wasn't as complex as it is now." Why is that? Why is it that over time technology has been used as a main source of communicating romantically? Why is it that the simple practice of expressing one’s feelings for someone upfront has become more strenuous? For so many people, the basic concept of love is what acts as a basis for their social interactions. I can personally account for an example of one of these people. Now I'm not saying that all I do is spend my days prowling for women like a creepy stalker. I'm saying that even when I am spending time with my friends, the main objective is almost always the same I was never interested in the hook up culture. What was important to me was finding the right girl to relate to; a girl that I shared similar interests with, and someone I could really just stand being around. During the summer after my high school graduation, my friend Arron and I grew very close. We hung out nearly every day, and would talk about various things, one of those being about girls. For some odd reason, the idea of girls would never leave our conversation. We would discuss different girls and our chances with them on an intimate level. A lot of this sexual contemplation could be attributed to the fact that our friends were starting to find girls/guys that they could communicate with on a romantic level. Aside from school, the time we had with our friends was limited. Along with school, my friends were handed a new responsibility; their girlfriends. Although I was happy for my friends that they were able to share their experiences with their significant others, my friend Arron and I wished we could have had this type of relationship with someone as well. In the 90’s many would argue that dating wasn’t as convenient as it is now. There was always a mystery of the other person, and what could lurk in their various backgrounds. Now a days, you can get to know someone well enough without having to meet them through social media applications (apps) such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Now that I’m in college, my peers are using these apps more frequently than ever. Apps such as “Tinder” and “Hot or Not” are utilized to help narrow down one’s personal preferences into finding someone faster and more efficiently. Although Tinder and other apps like it are dating apps, the people around me seem to be using them as a way of hooking up. During my second week in college, Jack, a floor mate, was telling my friends and I that, “Tinder is literally filled with Horny girls who are just trying to get laid.” If this is true, what is the purpose of chivalry? Is it really worth the time and effort? Apparently, to some people chivalry isn’t worth the work when one can get the same end result through social media apps like “Tinder.”. “Tinder” gives the option of communicating who you are (or who you want to be) through its online profiles. Five out of seven people in my dorm have told me that on Tinder, the confidence level that one has when communicating to a potential “booty call” is higher when compared to talking to someone upfront. Anthony Cyriac, a construction management major at Drexel University, informed me “when spitting game to a girl (flirting), you’re not only selling yourself based on your words, your selling your overall appearance as well.” With Anthony it is vital that you don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk in the meantime.
Kashmir Hill of Forbes tells her readers that, “technology has transformed all single folk into lazy fishermen with 10 lines in the water instead of Captain Ahab types focused on spearing just one elusive soul mate.” Using apps like “Tinder” you don’t have