Professor Gives Reasons on the Dated History of Dating
Published: January 14, 2015 | Author: Jessica Young | Read Time: 2 minutes
Boy meets girl — it’s how most stories begin — but in the last generation the paradigm has shifted and dating has become dated, especially on college campuses, according to Dr. Andrew Van Alstyne, Southern Utah University sociology assistant professor.
He explained that many college students socialize in groups of friends, and never really deciding to enter a committed relationship till after spending hours in large social groups and even several hang out sessions.
“The whole language of dating has changed,” stated Van Alstyne. “But that isn’t because of this generation, that shift happened with their parents and now it’s becoming more apparent with the current college students.”
Van Alstyne went on to say that this younger cohort have different short term desires than say their parents did, especially because of the advent of social media, allowing those attracted to each other to converse across all mediums, whenever because before you found your next girlfriend during one of your classes, now you find them through a hashtag.
With this idea of virtually connecting, dating online is going to continue to make an impact according to Van Alstyne, but that doesn’t make those dating online more superficial. He explained that people want to see whom they are talking to but they don’t want their looks being the focus.
“The research has shown that if the initial message you send on an online dating site focuses on how pretty the girl’s profile picture is the likelihood of additional messages being sent is slim,” he said.
With the dating game involving and new rules being implemented constantly, what’s a girl or boy to do when those lonely Friday nights creep in?
How about make an appointment with the Dating Doctor.
Coming to campus for the second time, David Coleman, otherwise known as the Dating Doctor, on Thursday, January 15 to give students dating advice and teach how to make relationships happen. And with Valentine’s Day around the corner, everyone no matter his or her relationship status is invited to make an appointment with the Dating Doctor.
Contact Information:
435-586-5400
Contact the Office of Marketing Communication
This article was published more than 5 years ago and might contain outdated information or broken links. As a result, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.