Technology and its effect on relationships

Technology is at the heart of our lifestyle. It has changed the way we communicate in our everyday life. We now type emails instead of letters, sent instantly. We text instead of call and instead of meeting face to face we use video calls and face time.

In the past when we dated we used to get dressed up and head out to different places to meet people. Today we don’t have to leave the house. A lot of people are using technology to find love because it’s as easy as swiping right if you like the look of someone. There’s a lot of sites that cater for people who are looking for love but how is this technology effecting our relationships?

Every person has a preconceived expectation of what it’s like to be loved. Some people need to be told they are loved while others need to be hugged. Technological dating makes it hard sometimes to work out what the other person needs and can lead to issues when you finally do meet face to face so let’s look at the different ways people express and expect love sometimes.

Affection and appreciation

Does your partner respond well to loving words? If they do it might be a good idea to make that short phone call to tell them you’re thinking of them and love them. Sure it’s easier to flick them a text but going that one step further and making the call may mean so much more to them. Words of complement or appreciation also go a long way if your partner is one that responds well to loving words. Or even a gentle touch or holding their hand can express something that perhaps the heart on the phone screen doesn’t quite say in the same way.

Action

Some people would like you to show them love through your actions. This could be cooking dinner for them, giving them a relaxing massage or taking care of them when they are feeling unwell. This is one area in which today's technologies can come in handy as there are all types of apps these days to help to make things easier, cheaper and save time.

Time and attention

Sometimes all we want is for our partner to spend some quality time with us and give us their full attention. Technology can sometimes get in the way with this. Yes, you may be able to multitask but is that really quality time? Does sitting on your phone scrolling through Facebook or reading emails while having dinner or watching a movie with your partner really qualify as quality time? If this is the way your partner treats you then you may need to tell them to put that phone down and spend an evening or lunch break just with you.

Giving Gifts

Some people like to receive tokens of affection as in gifts to show love. If your partner’s love language is receiving gifts, then the importance of the gift is magnified. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, giving your partner not necessarily expensive gifts, but giving them thoughtful gifts will make them feel special and loved. Technology can make this easy with online shopping and you cannot save time finding the perfect gift while comparing prices and saving money.

So while technology can lead to many arguments about Facebook and scrolling between couples there is also an upside. You can find things you have in common online, share ideas about what movies to watch, text each other flirty messages and use it to communicate rather than communication breakdowns. Keep in mind yours and your partners preferences when is comes to how we need to give and receive love and keep the lines of communication flowing.