Welcome to the first inaugural Complex Computer Love Week. A five-day examination of what happens when the heart and World Wide Web collide. We would have called it a celebration, but it’s not all hugs and kisses, as we’ve recently seen from a certain MTV show and an awkward college football star. But let’s slow down a bit and get to the heart of exactly what we we’re talking about when we talk about computer love.
Things have changed in the world of courting. No longer is the local bar, lounge, or club the only way for you to meet your next fling. Or, shall we say, they’re no longer the only acceptable places to meet your next ex-girlfriend. For a growing number of people, online dating is no longer taboo—to hear some tell it's straight up commonplace. According to the University of Rochester, in 2012, the percentage of couples who met online jumped to a staggering one in four, and is still on the rise. The study also showed that meeting dates online has grown second to meeting dates through friends and acquaintances. Yeah, those Match.com commercials weren't completely bullshitting you. This is real.
To complicate matters further is social media, which allows people to effortlessly keep in touch with friends and old flings, as well as meet all new people under the guise of friendship. It sounds harmless, but anyone who's been in a relationship and had someone of the opposite sex hit them on Instagram or Twitter, knows how volatile this can be.
It's a brave new world we're in, folks. One where the rules are actively being written. One where no one quite knows what to make of a girl "liking" their image or retweeting them. One where your most personal of possessions—your smartphone—can turn state evidence and leave you more single than Ochocinco.
This is what we'll be looking at this week: How to traverse the complicated intersection of love and technology. With Valentine's Day coming up, we decided to start the week off with a primer on what to do and not to do on social media this Thursday.
In the words of 3 Stacks: Keep your heart, dear reader, keep your heart!
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