Social media has changed pretty much every aspect of our lives, including the way we socialize. Who needs to see friends when we can know what they’re doing on Facebook, right? Family vacations are on Instagram, fun moments become profile pictures, and arguments become the topic of the night on everyone’s Newsfeed. What was even considered the most private aspect of our personal lives, our sex life, has become affected by social media. With so many advances in technology that make it easier to be even more accesible to their social media accounts for a longer amount of time, people barely have time to go see the real world outside their computers. How do we manage our romantic entanglements on the World Wide Web?
Company, harmless flirtation, and sex are all just one swipe away… literally. Tinder is an app we use (don’t deny it; everyone and their mother is on it) to meet people , regardless of our individual motives for meething them. A “friendship” or a “fling” is bound to happen if two people like each other. It basically the delivers the results of going to a bar, but you don’t have to put pants on. My best friend is on Tinder and I decided to do a little “investigating” myself. It was a little weird at first, in my case, because my focus was on reading the bios and not necessarily the pictures. I was amazed by people’s honesty. Some initial conversations were sweet and others were steamy, right off the bar. There’s also people who enjoy “trolling” others. And of course, there are people on there who are just looking for friends or someone to talk to. You never know for sure what the person’s looking for, until you actually talk to them. So far, I got myself a pizza date, with a very nice man who’s aspiring into politics. It’s also really awkward seeing the people you just swiped around campus. And even weirder to see friends of your ex on Tinder, who you used to see regularly on his basketball games, because they were teammates. But that’s just me.
There are other dating sites like OkCupid, Match.com, eHarmony, or Badoo that are much more specialized, and it’s generally understood that those are sites that you use when you’re looking for a relationship. Fun fact: My mom and her fiancée met through OkCupid.
Twitter is a website you use to vent, in less than 140 characters. I wonder if it’s the bird that used to tell our parents every bad thing we did as a child. How am I suppose to say my ex cheated on me, with so little space? Your “coolness” is based on your amount of followers, and I’m pretty sure many people know how that works. If you simpathize well enough, you’re known… if not, sorry. The same goes to vine and instagram. Never forget the #MartesdeTetas and #ViernesdeNalgas hashtags. The fun thing about twitter is that you can follow complete strangers, and talk to them via direct messages (also known as DM), and from that moment on you can schedule a hook up with one of your followers, or even build a strong friendship/relationship.
And just when you think the list was over, you remember Snapchat. It’s the best way to rub in people’s faces what you’re doing, without them. Also… never forget those private chats you get at night. Many people send their nudes, thinking that they can’t get through that app. It’s a trap. People have managed to find apps to stop letting you know when you screenshot something. Or even worse, what if the person doesn’t want your nudes? Be careful to who you send your stuff. You might never know if your “sexy” picture ends up in any social media, and people WILL keep sharing. It’s a dark world out there. Is Snapchat sex a thing now? I had an acquaintance on Snapchat, and just as I was going to get inside a class, I get a *cough cough* picture of his man jewels. Awkward. Is it even possible to get mad if the other person says no? Apparently that answer made me not only lose a follower, but also adding that guy to my long list of: “Somebody that I used to Know” (ha ha, get it?) Also one of our contributors recently told me about a girl who screenshot the conversation and posted it on twitter. Because pubic humilliation is the best way to reject someone nowadays.
With all this being said, have fun using your technology carefully. That’s the key to all. We have such great advances, yet people prefer to use negativity and keep comitting bad decisions. Let’s just stop it all, and bring back the good old fashion thing, meeting someone on a library, or at a class… you name it. Regardless of your intention, it’s a fun way to meet people. Having the good ol’ chills when you meet someone for the first time, even if it’s just for sex. Unfortunately we live in a society that this generation doesn’t even remember the nervousness when you called your crush, and their parent answered the house phone. And sure, it’s fun using apps for a double purpose, but it’s also sad. Because we have forgotten what it was like talking in person, the butterflies in our stomachs, reconnecting friendships on a cafe. Now it’s all just for sex, right?