Teen romance used to consist of handwritten letters, delivering flowers to doors, making mix tapes, and small gestures that show love. However, in a world where technology is starting to become a fundamental aspect of everyone’s day-to-day lives, high school relationships often thrive on Snapchat, an app that has changed social interactions. While it can be beneficial for communication and has shaped how younger generations connect with one another, is it the end of real love and connection among teens?
About 75% of teenagers use Snapchat daily, so undeniably it has an impact on teenage relationships. Since the app’s initial release in 2011 but more significantly in recent years, it has changed the process of actually putting a label on relationships. Instead of intimate love and connection, the majority of the time teenage “love” is just casual and lust. While this can be accredited to times changing, dating culture becoming more casual, and the world becoming more reliant on phone and technology usage, Snapchat has become many teens’ primary method of communication, which has an imminent effect on how they interact with one another, hence impacting romance as well.
Snapchat has many distinct features that make the platform unique from other messaging apps, such as Best Friends Lists (top eight most interacted with users), Snap Map (location sharing feature), Snapscores (total amount of Snaps sent), and even an option for a paid subscription for extended features on the app called Snapchat Plus. The app’s features have set up new expectations in teenage relationships– some people automatically assume that if you are talking to someone, it is a given that their location is on, you’re their number one best friend, and whenever their Snapscore increases they snap you. This is obsessive and unhealthy behavior that does not determine one’s loyalty, yet many teens hyper-fixate on these features and assume it does. This creates delusions and breaks the barriers between reality and what simply exists on the app.
The bar for romantic endeavors has been lowered, normalizing hookup culture over genuine connection. People tend to do things those dating would do, just without official commitment to the other person. Talking stages and situationships have become the new couple and putting a label on relationships is no longer a given. Authentic emotional intimacy has been overruled by hookups that lack any actual meaning, leaving many teens to feel attached yet emotionally unfulfilled.
Talking stages, otherwise knows as dating, used to be an opportunity to get to know someone before deciding to take things further, but depending on how long it lasts, they are just undefined relationships. It’s normal for a talking stage to last between 1-3 months because it takes time to get to know someone, but if it has been more than that and you’re hanging out with someone regularly without a label, it’s rare for something serious to arise from it. When a talking stage lasts this long, it can be assumed that one person involved doesn’t want anything serious or to commit, even if the other person wants more.
Situationships take this even further– they are essentially prolonged talking stages that involve physical and emotional intimacy but without exclusivity and formal commitment. Unlike talking stages, however, there’s no clear trajectory and can persist for a long time. Situationships consist of couple-like behaviors, for example– cuddling, going on dates, and giving gifts. These actions intensify romantic feelings and the desire to become official with one another but are done when one person has no intent to be in a real relationship. This however is not always communicated though which leads to confusion.
Snapchat’s role in communication only adds to this problem. Its informal nature makes one feel as if they don’t need to put in as much effort into relationships which drags out the process of becoming official with someone, if ever. The app’s design encourages quick interactions and conversations which can be beneficial at times, but this comes at the cost of taking the time to actually get to know someone. This aligns with the rise in hookup culture, where casualty overrules connection.
Talking stages and situationships thrive on Snapchat because it is an ideal platform for low-commitment affairs. The app features can make one feel a sense of closeness to someone, but this is often just a misinterpretation of what is truly happening. Sharing location, being someone’s number one best friend, and snapping each other constantly can make someone feel important or exclusive, but in reality, these actions don’t equal love.
Today’s generation of teenagers is heavily reliant on technology for communication which can be good, but Snapchat’s casualness foreshadows how relationships unfold. It has significantly impacted teen romance today, but not always for the better. Yes, real connection and love still exist among teens, but dating culture has shifted and because of that, emotional intimacy is often overlooked. Relationships need to be able to exist outside the world of Snapchat to truly succeed, and in doing so, genuine bonds will be formed outside of the screen.
