“OMG he saved my picture in chat!”
“She sent me a full face pic, she definitely likes me.”
“He left me on opened! It’s SO over.”
These are the digital actions that teenagers now obsess over, at the fault of Snapchat. Due to the rise of Snapchat culture, dating has gone from “Can I get your number?” to “What’s your Snap?”, making teens increasingly detached from the world with every Snap they send.
Snapchat was originally created to be a fun app for teens to send silly pictures to their friends. However, it has transformed into a new style of dating that allows for relationships to remain undefined and for teens to remain uncommitted.
Because most teenagers today view Snapchat as an impersonal way to flirt with as many people as possible, all the best parts of a teenage relationship are lost to lack of physical connection and communication.
All of this leads to the “situationship”, where both parties are too scared to put a label on their relationship and make it “official”, so instead they keep their relationship between dating and being single. This lack of clarity leads to broken hearts and hurt feelings. Snapchat thrives off of this cycle as each failed “talking” just brings more business for them.
This constant cycle of situationships leads to many teenagers never dating until their adult life, as the amount of high school seniors who have reported going on a date has gone down in recent years, according to Harvard educated psychologist Bella DePaulo. This number is constantly decreasing because of its direct correlation to the continuous rise in Snapchat use amongst U.S. teenagers, according to DePaulo.
The reality is, many teens don’t go on dates anymore. No one comes knocking on your door, flowers in hand. Even if someone does ask you out, they don’t even ask in person, since it’s easier from behind the screen.
Snapchat dating culture has not only made dating worse, but caused many teenagers to waste time and energy on the app. How much of your time is taken up by sending snap streaks, checking whether or not that one person responded, agonizing over why you were left on open.
Life is so much more than Snapchat situationships.
It is romance. With flowers, touch, and eye contact, you can only find that if you look up from your screens.
Instead of finding love on Snapchat, step into the real world where love paints a picture no screen could ever replicate.