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| The Age of Digital Love: Today's dating scene is at your fingertips, not on the tip of your tongue. |
I know all too well the power of social media in
relationships these days - the good, the bad, the ugly. For me, the
'good' is that I have Facebook and Twitter to thank for reconnecting
with my now husband after losing contact twice. Let's breeze over the
'bad' and the 'ugly' which involved a deleted friend request and closing
down a Facebook profile - digital love stories aren't without their drama, you know!
It got me to thinking how the dating scene has
evolved. I'm the ear at the end of the moaning of my single friends as
the dating scene has regressed into 2D. When did the techy geniuses out
there decide that human interaction wasn't necessary for meeting your
mate? Now the dating pool may be at the end of your fingertips but it’s
not without hours invested in dating apps and fending off the foot
fetishists.
As I enter into ‘that age bracket’ where my
Facebook news feed is all weddings and babies, I’m seeing the rise of
the iPad-wielding-toddler who can code before they can count. Who knows
what kind of social dysfunction it will cause when we have a generation
of teenagers who have little experience of face-to-face dealings and a
conversation is going to be more rare than Niall from One Direction
tweeting you back. Whilst their knowledge of social media is scary (or
rather scarily good), their social life is governed by 'Facebook stalking’, using the coolest hashtags and instagram’ing their pocket
money purchases – cue pout! Life online is not the real world and surely
the bubble has to pop at some point?
If you were in Jane Austen’s era, your future
husband was presumed to be in a reasonably imminent geographical radius
unless you caught the eye of the wealthy traveling gentry or visiting
naval forces ‘on leave’ who attended the local dance. But even then, it
was often down to your parents to find a suitor and you just hoped your
happiness was considered over and above financial benefit – less like a
daughter-for-sale business transaction. For my parents time - that’d be
the 70s/80s - there were socials, gigs and house parties to lock eyes.
And if what followed brought butterflies then there would be the
exchange of your home telephone number (which just typically your Dad
would answer first time he called). My mum's friend told me a story of
her dating woes when she had been exchanging letters with a "nice boy"
for quite some time who had suggested they meet in London. Only he stood
her up. A no show. No mobile phones, pigeon carriers or magical owls
available to warn of any delays in his arrival. Instead she sat it out
... for hours…before admitting defeat. If only Twitter had been there:
‘@girlontheplatformwaiting Got stuck at the office and now the central
line is suspended #verybritishproblems Be there soon!’
Yet today's story is a positive one. What's to
say your Twitter crush couldn't turn into more? It’s far too easy to
talk yourself out of making the first move, but behind your screen
(literally…and probably in your pyjamas with a face mask on) what have
you got to lose? Be brave, be safe and always keep your friends in the
loop – in this case, Victoria friends who dared her to ask Jonathan out
on a date, were flown over from Canada to see their good work. Do you
have a social-media-(ro)mance?