It is no secret that I am a romantic. I love love. Romance novels have me giggling and kicking my feet more often than I would like to admit. Blushing while watching a rom-com is one of my favorite pastimes. I feel love all around me, in all its many forms. Social media tries to define love and represent an objective form of the emotion. I discovered that love does not have to be a grand romance; it can be the little things you encounter in your day-to-day life.
My TikTok algorithm is carefully curated to show me tarot card readings claiming that some dark-haired, dreamy person is out there for me. My initial is supposedly destined to be with someone whose initial starts with different letters, according to the numerous videos that have crossed my “For you” page.
These videos try to push a certain idea of love on me that never feels genuine. Love does not have to be a baseless prediction of who I might end up with. Love can be whatever you think it is.
Recently, one of my favorite niche internet interests has been the Nick and Cassie story. Nick Wilkins, under the username n1ckwilkins, and Cassie, or cassiesbooktok, are two creators who make comedy content. They make awkward videos that can be painfully relatable about what it means to be single. Fans would tag them in each other’s videos, saying that they would be perfect for one another.
Nick jumped into action and made a public video flirting with Cassie in an awkward yet charming way. Cassie responded, flirting back. This online exchange of flirting went on for two weeks. Fans flooded the comments saying things like, “I’m gonna tell my kids this is the story of Romeo and Juliet.” Fans suspected that Nick and Cassie would meet up, and on Feb. 9, Nick posted a cryptic video of himself on a plane. On Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, the pair posted the same video revealing that they had met in person.
Along with many others on the social media platform, I was enamored with this story. I had seen Cassie’s TikToks about being a single girl, and I only wished the best for her. I knew she was a hopeless romantic obsessed with books, like myself, and when Nick started to make videos for her, I was elated for her. While I love a good love story, my heart was full of excitement at her happiness.
Although fans were in full support of the creators, there was speculation from the beginning that the suspected romance was fabricated for the creators to gain followers and views. Honestly, I do not think it matters if it is fake. Fans saw two hopeless romantics on the internet and paired them together. They wanted them to be happy. Even if the apparent internet meet-cute was just a ploy to attract new followers, it was a fun way for people to digitally unite over something seemingly trivial. That seems like real love to me.
Social media has the power to make us believe in an objective form of love. Sometimes, it’s a cute little romance between two strangers on the internet and that’s wonderful. The truth is, love can be whatever you want it to be. To feel love fully in life, it’s important to look at it in a different way.
Real love can be found in the little things in humanity. Love is finding a united community in a strange little corner of the internet. Love is the way you laugh with friends over your weird jokes. Love is every little moment of your life.
Love can be so many things. It does not have to be romantic love. It can be from family, friends and from total strangers. There are multiple paths of love, if you only have the eye to see it.