As products of a digital era, it’s easy to forget just how much technology can take over our lives. It is common for most of us to sit on our laptops browsing Her Campus, whilst playing on our phone, and checking our Facebook news feed. As a friend of HCX said, “you know things have got bad when you know what comes next on your news feed.” It would seem that having more options available to keep in touch with people would make it easier, but studies have shown that the opposite is true: has technology taken over our minds and made us lazy when it comes to love?
Skype
With the help of a laptop with a built in webcam- long distance lovers can share a date with no hassle. But has this simple approach caused us to simplify our efforts? With no need to dress up and venture outside, it’s so much easier to stay in our trackies and keep the make-up to a minimum. Yes, beauty comes from within but it is nice to dress up every so often and treat our man!
Social networking offers a whole host of options to keep up to date with the lives of your loved ones. Status updates, check-ins, photo tagging and Facebook chat all useful tools making it easier to communicate with one another. But is staring at a computer screen really a better alternative than going outside and meeting with someone in person? It’s all too easy to get into the habit of logging into your favourite social networking site when you’ve got a spare minute to update your friends in the cyber world – but is that a worthy substitute for keeping up to date in the real world?
Texting
In the days of our parents, snail mail would have been the key contact in a long distance relationship. However, nowadays we can press a few buttons and instantly be in contact with our loved ones. Whether it’s sending a flirty text or a cute picture message, it’s all too easy to substitute cyber love for real love.
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How to Ensure you Don’t Rely on Technology in your Relationship:
- Have regular “real” dates: whether your boyfriend’s here in Exeter or you’re in a long distance relationship, scheduling time to go on a real date is a great way to rekindle the romance. And with so many places to discover in Exeter, you’re spoilt for choice. For some suggestions, check out our guide to dating on a budget!
- Go old school: Try writing a letter to your boyfriend, and you’ll be surprised how much more meaningful your messages get. It’s easy to get into the habit of constantly sitting online and sending short, samey messages. Writing a love letter is a lovely memento and certainly more fun than working on that essay.
- Switch off for a day: Spend the time with your laptop and phone switched off, and use it to reflect on your life in the real world. Go out and experience life without posting a status update or tweeting what you’ve done, and you’ll realise the cyber world doesn’t need to know everything. Once the day’s over, you’ll most likely find you can reconnect with your loved ones with a whole new outlook on life.
Yes, technology inevitably makes our lives that little bit easier, but it does have its downsides. Next time that you go to send a text message to your boyfriend that lives round the corner, how about taking a walk to his place and having a romantic evening face-to-face instead!
Photo Credits: www.tumblr.com, www.facebook.com, www.ivalfrae.com