Contemporary society is characterized by the rapid development of high technologies. Nowadays, there is hardly a person who does not have a mobile phone, and those people who do not have an account on at least one social networking service look like rare birds.
It goes without saying that contemporary technologies have a great impact on society. Such an ordinary thing as a mobile phone, which has been invented as a means of communication, now is a symbol of a new generation. The representatives of this generation cannot imagine their life without social networking, and many of them even feel anxiety without their phones. All these facts give birth to a new culture of communication, which Alex Williams (2013) calls “hookup culture” (para.4).
Apart from the influence on society, these highly developed technologies have cardinally changed the relationships of people between each other and the nature of courtship. This is particularly so with representatives of the young generation. Nowadays, romantic relations are replaced with technologies. A process of acquaintance between a young fellow and a young girl in many cases is realized by means of short messages or the internet. Representatives of the contemporary youth practically do not know what a traditional dating means. Shani Silver as cited in Ball (2013) ironically says that “the word date should almost be stricken from the dictionary” (para.3).
For young men it is better to send a message with a poor mimicry of invitation than to follow all the steps of the traditional courtship. Moreover the traditional dating implies the seriousness in relationships, while in contemporary society most of young people are able to keep a family only after 30.
The general idea of Alex Williams (2013) expressed in her article The End of Courtship is that the traditional dating is over. As for me, it is difficult not to agree with her. I have been witnessed many young people who prefer mobile phones to real life communication. Moreover, the meaning of the first date aiming to know a person better is lost nowadays. There is no sense in it because practically everybody is registered in social networking services the information in which, as a rule, does not correspond to reality. At the same time, there are people who prefer the old courtship traditions, with the first date and romantic relationships.
As for me, I must admit that it is impossible to stop the progress and the so-called hookup culture is quite a natural process. At the same time, I feel sorry that romantic relations are replacing with technologies.
Reference List
Ball, C. (2013). Is Courtship dead? And if it is, is that really such a bad thing? . Web.
Williams, A. (2013). The End of Courtship? . Web.