Does your Twitter Habit make you a Fickle Dater?
- Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 07:58 am
- Contributed by: kellyseal
- Views: 1,231
A recent study by dating website OkCupid revealed that if you’re a frequent Twitter user, your romantic relationships don’t last as long.
According to their analysis of 833,987 OkCupid members, people who use Twitter every day tend to have shorter relationships. The average relationship for an 18-year-old who uses Twitter is about nine months, while “everybody else” has a relationship average of nine-and-a-half months.
This isn’t the case only for the young, though they seem to be the most active Twitter users. According to the study, the 50 year-old frequent tweeter has an average relationship length of 15 months, while the non-frequent tweeter of the same age stays in a relationship for an average of almost 17 months.
Does this mean Twitter makes us more fickle when it comes to real life relationships?
I’m a fan of dating studies because they reveal some interesting truths about our behavior. But I have to wonder if this might be an oversimplified interpretation. In other words, is it a Twitter habit that affects our ability to commit to just one person for a significant period of time, or is it the sheer amount of choice we have when it comes to dating?
We now have many different ways to meet new people, keep in touch, and flirt, including through social media like Twitter and Facebook, mobile phone apps and texting, and online dating sites. There are more choices, so it’s easy to see why people may be less inclined to stay in a relationship if there are other options available. It’s hard to keep our attention. After all, there could be a model, millionaire, or some other "great catch" in your ever-expanding network. Shouldn’t you find out?
While Twitter may contribute to the lack of patience or willingness people have to commit to relationships, it also points out a greater challenge: with so many options out there and so many fickle daters, how do we find someone who is right for us?
Despite all of these new opportunities to meet and connect, we still face the same relationship challenges. There’s no way to tell if someone is right for you until you give them a chance and get to know them. Instead of having a mentality that there is always a better option, understand what it is you truly want. Instead of being fickle, be open to the possibility of commitment.
Commitment is a scary thing, but it is also rewarding. After all, we love social media because we want to feel connected. There is no greater feeling of connectedness than in a healthy romantic relationship, even today.
For more information on the social networking site mentioned in this article please read our review of Twitter.
According to their analysis of 833,987 OkCupid members, people who use Twitter every day tend to have shorter relationships. The average relationship for an 18-year-old who uses Twitter is about nine months, while “everybody else” has a relationship average of nine-and-a-half months.
This isn’t the case only for the young, though they seem to be the most active Twitter users. According to the study, the 50 year-old frequent tweeter has an average relationship length of 15 months, while the non-frequent tweeter of the same age stays in a relationship for an average of almost 17 months.
Does this mean Twitter makes us more fickle when it comes to real life relationships?
I’m a fan of dating studies because they reveal some interesting truths about our behavior. But I have to wonder if this might be an oversimplified interpretation. In other words, is it a Twitter habit that affects our ability to commit to just one person for a significant period of time, or is it the sheer amount of choice we have when it comes to dating?
We now have many different ways to meet new people, keep in touch, and flirt, including through social media like Twitter and Facebook, mobile phone apps and texting, and online dating sites. There are more choices, so it’s easy to see why people may be less inclined to stay in a relationship if there are other options available. It’s hard to keep our attention. After all, there could be a model, millionaire, or some other "great catch" in your ever-expanding network. Shouldn’t you find out?
While Twitter may contribute to the lack of patience or willingness people have to commit to relationships, it also points out a greater challenge: with so many options out there and so many fickle daters, how do we find someone who is right for us?
Despite all of these new opportunities to meet and connect, we still face the same relationship challenges. There’s no way to tell if someone is right for you until you give them a chance and get to know them. Instead of having a mentality that there is always a better option, understand what it is you truly want. Instead of being fickle, be open to the possibility of commitment.
Commitment is a scary thing, but it is also rewarding. After all, we love social media because we want to feel connected. There is no greater feeling of connectedness than in a healthy romantic relationship, even today.
For more information on the social networking site mentioned in this article please read our review of Twitter.
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