Type “technology and relationships” into your web browser and you’re guaranteed to find blogs, articles, images, and feminine rants discussing how the Internet has transformed a once-simple courtship ritual into a virtual battlefield. Back in the day, dating was simple. Girl meets Guy (in person). Guys asks girl for her number (house phone). Girl waits for a call from Guy for days (or what may seem like light years). Guy asks Girl out (dinner and a movie). Guy picks Girl up (probably in his parent’s car). Guy walks Girl to her door (PG-rated plot). Girl waits for another call from Guy (stereotypical, but true).
That. Is. All. They don’t become friends on Facebook. They don’t email each other their cell phone numbers. There is no pre-date communication via text whatsoever. Messages exist only on the answering machine in your mother’s bedroom. Flirting is done in person or over the phone, not with emoticons and retweets. The progression is slow and careful; not treated as a rush job that requires you to like 1/3 of their profile pictures before they message you on Skype. It’s just like Drew Barrymore said in He’s Just Not That Into You:
“I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work, and so I called him at home, and he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It’s exhausting.”
Preach, girl.
Yes, dating is no longer what it used to be. With the progression of technology and time, it has evolved into an action that requires us to learn the basic steps all over again. As women, we once expected the man to have all the power, and maybe that was easier because it placed all of the burden and pressure on their shoulders. But ladies, isn’t it about time we kept the ball on our court and dribbled it around a little bit, without control or direction from the guy sitting on the bleachers?
Look at it as a blessing in disguise, because that’s exactly what it has the power to be. You don’t have to wait for a man to call you back, because guess what? You are secure enough to ask him out to dinner. He hasn’t answered your text since last night? Who needs him? You know what they say about there being tons of fish in the sea. You don’t have time to go on that blind date your mother keeps bothering you about? Fine, open your Swoon app en route to your next afternoon meeting and like pictures of attractive men without anybody knowing about it.
The point is, the power is in your hands – and at your fingertips – so I suggest you download the Swoon app and get started. Prince Charming could be just a green check away.
