When Love and Social Networks Collide

As social media starts to become more prominent in our lives, the way we fall in love has changed. Just last January, a man named Neil Parris proposed to his girlfriend in a 42 picture Instagram story. In our generation, one in ten Americans try online dating and one-third of all marriages are people that met online.

Back before Match.com, eHarmony and even Tinder, people went to bars, concerts, cafes and other places and interacted with people and met people that they would potentially date. Now we swipe right or left based on profile pictures and a one sentence bio. Shy and awkward people have benefited from this. Now you don’t have to go up to a stranger and try to engage in a conversation with them and maybe be rejected in person.

I actually met my current boyfriend from Tinder and it was a guy that I had hung out with the first day of college but I did not know he liked me and vice versa. Without a social network like Tinder, we probably would never be together. Some people say that the days before social network and love collided were the best days, but I think social networking sites have helped us meet people that we can get to know before we actually meet in person. As long as you are safe about it, a lot of good can come from social networks.