With the help of social media and an increased wave of texting, dating in college has been easier than ever. However, is new technology doing more harm than good on campus?

Let’s paint a picture: say you and your friends are at a party and you lock eyes with an attractive guy or girl across the room. After you two strike up a conversation, he or she agrees to text you the very same night with plans for tomorrow. You’re now back at your dorm in bed and staring at your ceiling—still no text. The very next day you decide to take the leap and text them—still no answer. What gives?

This, along with a laundry list of dating woes, is one of the many problems faced by students who attempt to date during college. Texting and the use of other forms of social media have produced a resistance to communicate with fully developed thoughts and emotions.

“It’s just so much easier to send a quick text and go,” junior Jeanette Torres said. “I’m way too busy with classes so it’s convenient for me to communicate with people via text.”

College is a place where students are supposed to get up, go out and meet people. However, technology has created a world where the easy, immediate response of a text message has replaced meaningful conversation. Is a simple emoji now more intimate than one-on-one conversation over coffee?

Interestingly enough, even though it seems students have become completely obsessed with texting and social media platforms such as Instagram, it’s still a huge source of anxiety when it comes to dating.

In a survey of 1,500 daters conducted by USA Today, 25 percent of participants said that an hour was the longest acceptable response time to a text to someone you are dating or are interested in dating.

“Me and my girlfriends sometimes wait a half hour before

responding to a guy,” senior Bianca Ortiz said. “You don’t want to look desperate, that’s just creepy.”

Ironically enough, guys seem to feel the same way when communicating with a girl via text or other form of social media.

“When I see a girl I like from campus on Instagram, I try not to “like” too many of her pictures,” junior Frank Aybar said. “People seem to believe if you “like” so many pictures at once you come off as a stalker or something.”

According to a recent survey conducted at New York University, data showed that 61 percent of men hoped a casual conversation via text with the opposite sex would turn into something more while 68 percent of women hoped for more—just a 7 percent difference.

The informality of sending a quick text message has blurred the lines of basic respect between relationships. Students can easily send a text while still remaining detached and simply opt-out of responding after a while.

With the diluted state of communication and the “who ever looks desperate loses” slogan among young adults, the downfall of college dating will only continue to progress. Nix the game playing, put down the cell phones, and lay the “emoji’s” to rest. Your move.