Are we millennials a loveless generation, or are we still simply harping on about the idea of love waiting for us at a random corner? We are a generation who comes to life when we are plugged into this outlet known as cyberspace. We want to simply log in and start searching in the hope of getting noticed on apps such as Tinder, Bumble, and OKCupid, which seem to pre-plan and manage our dating lives. It’s almost like we order up a human the same way we order our daily coffee from Starbucks (skinny vanilla latte, hold the male ego). The new form of intimacy lies perfectly between an expertly crafted string of emojis, while romantic effort is sending your significant other a “good-morning” text. Has technology become the third wheel of our relationships? I don’t know about you, but I want to be caught off guard by love – cheesy pickup lines and all. Regardless of how a majority of this generation chooses to seek love, I would still swipe right on the idea that true love exists.
So, do you believe true love exists in the modern age? We polled 11 college women on this topic and here’s what they had to say:
“I think it exists if both parties are mature about living in the “modern age.” Nowadays, girls (and guys) take offense to anything relating to the opposite sex. Liking a picture? Cheating. Following someone? Possibly cheating. Best friend on Snapchat? Cheating. I think there needs to be a strong level of trust and understanding from both sides that it’s just the Internet, and to not let it affect real life!” – Camila, 23
“I think true love in the modern age does exist but it’s just more difficult to find. Personally, I think one of the reasons is because our generation has evolved as a society, especially with women. We’ve become so independent over the years and as a result, we either remain single until someone special comes along who will enrich our lives or just stay single and continue to work on ourselves. I think those of us who genuinely believe in true love crave the real deal so if it’s as great as everyone says it is, why settle for less than we deserve?” – Jennifer, 21
“ I think love in the modern age totally exists! The issue is we spend so much time hiding behind screens and building this fake image of ourselves. Not many people are able to form that same person-to-person connection anymore.” Kendall – 22
“I believe that love absolutely exists. I just think that in the modern age our priorities have shifted so we’re worrying about careers more than love these days. (Kind of sad) however, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, some just find it later in their lives now. Love never dies, there’s a soulmate for everyone!” – Krystal, 21
“True love exists only to those who believe in it.” – Christina, 22
“My experience with love has been that when you’re fully accepting of yourself and totally unaware of the fact that you need anyone to hold you down, love creeps up on you. Once you’re in love it only works when you have enough courage in yourself to end it if it’s not right. In an age of Social Media and self validation throughout different online outlets people nowadays feel that something is only right when someone else tells them it is but when you know and can believe it’s coming from your own soul and being, that’s when it’s love.” – Erna, 20
“I think it most definitely exists, but in many different forms. That’s the modern part about it. It’s not just one thing, and it doesn’t just have one definition. It’s different for every person I think.” – Allyssa, 21
“We live in a generation of swipe rights and hookup culture. I’m not 100% sure if our generation knows what love is.” –Nicole, 22
“True love is not about having the perfect relationship, but becoming the best version of yourself when you’re with your significant other. If you can get to that point, you have found the existence of true love.” –Dana, 19*
“Love comes knocking when you least expect it. Put your phone down once in awhile, you don’t want to miss your chance to meet the love of your life.” – Ashley*, 19
“True love is a fantasy. Hallmark got it wrong.” – Rachel*, 20
*Names have been changed for privacy