Dating culture has undergone noticeable change, with the media altering the social expectations for relationships. Traditional dating has had to make way for newly made dating apps. Digital communication, connection, and meetings have created an entirely new dating landscape. These changes in turn shape modern relationships, changing everything from first-impressions to long-term commitment. 

Dating is now more complicated, due to technological advancements changing the way people view and develop relationships. New terminology and labels have begun surfacing within the current generation.

“I believe dating culture has changed a lot due to more complexity towards dating in general, such as current terminology that we use,” junior Renzo Omolon said. “For example, we have red flags, green flags, situationships, talking stages and things of that nature and overall I feel like it’s a lot more complicated and it’s been treated more as a game rather than trying to actually find a romantic partner.” 

While allowing for more paths of communication, advancements in technology have made relationships convenient and low maintenance. However, this could dilute the connection between partners.

“In a sense, it’s a positive change because people are able to meet new people and definitely talk to more people as well,” junior Oliver Rondez said. “But then if you have a lot of people to choose from, people start to pick and choose things and set unrealistic expectations. Like a lot of social media influencers try to romanticize a perfect relationship and I think it’s very unrealistic and sets an unrealistic standard to a lot of relationships.” 

Social media has become extremely prevalent in the current generation and media consumption has impacted dating culture immensely. Couples are able to share their romantic relationships online, allowing them to only show the “perfect” side. According to a Pew Research Center study conducted in 2019, 81% of all social media users often or sometimes see people posting things about their romantic relationships. 

“Social media has had a huge impact on dating culture because everyone can share their relationship and other people can compare their own relationship to other couples,” junior Fiona Wu said. “For example, one person in a relationship can see how another couple online is doing, where people buy expensive gifts and show a lot of affection and the person watching can see a drastic difference in their own relationship and can even break up their own relationship because they are comparing to a couple that only shows the good and not the bad.”

Dating has not only reformed through technology, but also through shifts between generations. Dating varies from between young and matured adults, each age group having a different set of standards and expectations. 

“When you’re younger, you fantasize about relationships because it’s like Prince Charming or Princess, and it’s very superficial,” senior Jeneray Navarrete-Pak said. “But as you grow older, like in high school, I know people take relationships a lot more seriously and then later in your adult life, you have to be more serious about commitment. When you’re younger, you don’t see it necessarily as a longer term thing.” 

Online dating has become a rising market. Millions of Americans use it at least once in their life. Dating apps like Tinder and Bumble have provided people a way to communicate with others, but these apps also have their drawbacks as well.

“Online dating is unnecessary, because the point of dating is to build a bond,” senior Rui Qin said. “I feel like online dating just makes it harder to build that connection and it’s better to meet face to face rather than on dating apps. There’s almost no chemistry involved when it’s online, with no real life interactions and there’s a lot of cases where people get catfished or heartbroken over a text, and I feel like it makes dating less personal.” 

Gender roles have encountered a significant shift as well. In the past, men were expected to initiate contact first, but now both men and women are encouraged to take initiative in these situations where men are typically expected to take the lead. 

“When you look at dating now for gender, it doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or girl necessarily,” Navarrete-Pak said. “It doesn’t matter who asked first, does this or whatever, they just go and do it. Like if you like a person most people would just say go for it regardless if you are a guy or girl. But then again, I do feel like there is still that standard where guys should be doing everything, whether that be paying for meals or behaving in a certain way and how girls need to act a certain way.” 

In the new digital age, where communication is as easy as a click of a button, dating standards have become more complex than they were before. Opinions are split on whether dating is easier in the current generation. The Thriving Center of Psychology claims, nearly half of Americans say that dating is harder than it was 10 years ago, some of the biggest reasons being increased risk, technology and dating becoming more impersonal. 

“I will say it has become a lot more complicated and has a lot more layers,” Evans said. “We have more modes and forms of communication and dating. Some people consider a FaceTime dinner as a date or is having dinner with an AI machine considered a date who is responding in almost an exact fashion as a real human would, the best answer would say that dating has become more complicated.”