Falling in love and dating is a tough business and sometimes, it truly feels like that—a business! Filled with ever changing trends and oftentimes annoying changes you didn’t get the memo on until last minute. There is perhaps a part of you that feels like, you just don’t understand! What is everyone going crazy over and why? Learning about the newest trends about dating can oftentimes feel overwhelming.
Well, not to worry, we’re here to break things down for you about all the trends and the craziness. From social media dating trends, to social pressures, to dating apps and the trends they create, even to things like couple clothing! Have you ever heard of such a thing? Let’s take an up-front look at 5 reasons everyone’s going crazy!
Five Reasons Everyone Is Going Crazy About Dating
- Instagram/Social Media
- Social Pressures
- Happily, Ever After trends
- Couple clothing
- Dating Apps
Instagram & Social Media Trends
We now live in the age of social media. s much as we all have a love/hate relationship with all of our social media accounts, it’s impossible to deny: social media drives a large part of our world these days. This craze over social media also results in a craze over dating and relationships.
People spend countless hours on social media, looking at everything from television show blurbs, sports, politics and even DIY home make-overs. Essentially, anything and everything is available through social media. Therefore, one of the biggest and most monopolizing trends is dating. Couples. People holding hands, walking into the sunset together. Couples enjoying a happy, sunshine filled spring picnic. Couples traveling together or getting coffee together. We all know it’s on everyone’d feed, including your own!
This is especially true when it comes to the social media giant, Instagram. Instagram is known for producing some of the biggest trends in recent history as well as new found stars, referred to as “Instagram stars,” or “Instagram models.” Yes, that’s correct, you can become famous simply for posting pictures of yourself, in a certain niche, on a social media account. It’s the new big thing!
Some of the biggest trends on Instagram center around everything couples. From wedding dress accounts, to lovers traveling together, to wedding day accounts, to accounts that feature a gorgeous man proposing to his beautiful girlfriend at the base of a waterfall or something romantic like that. Furthermore, there aren’t just a few of these accounts out there! There are tens of thousands, if not more and by simple going to the “discovery” page, your feed will be clogged full of such pictures and accounts.
Thus, it has become trendy and “cool” to be in a relationship, to be dating someone. It has become even more popular to post pictures of yourself doing so with some cheesy caption that is attention-seeking. Instagram and its users are fully obsessed with the idea of relationships and dating because that’s what they constantly see, every day, while scrolling through their social media.
Social Pressures
Building off what we expressed about social media and the dating trends they not only tend to promote but encourage, it’s important to point out that these trends have also created ever-growing social pressures as well. These social pressures come in all shapes and sizes but are all centered around the idea that if you’re alone and single then either something much be wrong with you or you must be lonely.
Of course, there have always been societal pressures surrounding relationships and dating, like your parents hounding you to bring home a boyfriend or girlfriend for the holidays or the teasing aunts and uncles asking about when you’re going to “settle down.” To a certain extent, those pressures may always exist, unfortunately.
However, these new trends are ones we see everywhere, constantly reminding us about relationships, dating and marriage. We see it on television, from shows like “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.” We see it constantly in movies the never-ending red-carpet gossip about who’s dating who and who’s breaking up. We see it endlessly, on social media, as we mentioned above, and we see it even in everyday advertisements.
This is just the shortened, condensed version but we see these things everywhere, all the time, always convincing us that dating is trendy and cool. And this starts the idea, on social levels that we all must be seeking a relationship, or actively dating, otherwise what are we doing without time? This creates ideas, socially, that if we’re alone then we’re helpless and lonely and unwanted.
Socially, having a boyfriend or a girlfriend is glamorous. People, not just our friends, but the general public, want to know more. They want to see pictures. They want to know about your dates and where you take them and who you’re dating. Furthermore, socially, there becomes these expectations: well, how long have you been dating? Where did you meet? Are you guys serious? There is not only a social expectation that we be dating, or in a relationship but that we also make our dating lives public because doing so is cool.
Happily, Ever After Trends
Again, building off the pervious topic, the outlets we’ve covered, social media giants, advertising giants, main-stream television and Hollywood movies (to give you the short list) all create this idealistic, fairy tale idea of the “happily ever after” scenario. The one we see in countless movies and television series each and every year. It always tends to be a similar version of the same events: boy meets girl (or vice versa if it please you), boy or girl falls for the other, boy or girl make a huge mistake and then go running back to tehri new-found soulmate to make things right and then they live “happily ever after.”
As a society, we’re shown this façade, almost daily! Whether it be through social media, television shows or movies, we’re sold this story over and over and over! Thus, creating this illusion that such things are actually possible, exist and furthermore—that we should seek such a story! And if we’re not, then what’s wrong with us?
That being said, when it comes to the average person in the general population, we’re completely taken and obsessed with this idea! Hence why romantic-comedies sell out in theaters all over the country every Friday night. Hence why so many people tune into dating shows, like “The Bachelor.” We cannot get enough of this story line and this idea that someone is actually coming along to “sweep us off our feet.”
This trend pushes up even further to feel as if we need to seek a relationship or have a strong dating life to feel okay and accepted not just by the general public and our friends but ourselves as well. We constantly feel that pressure to show we’ve sought out and found that perfect someone who is going to lead us down the aisle to “happily ever after.” To prove this point, simply go check out a site like Thiscrush.net! It proves how badly we’re all after this idea that sold to us every day.
Couple Clothing
Yes, you did, in fact, read the heading correctly. Have you heard of couple clothing? If not, rest assured, it’s headed to a city near you at lighting speed! Couple clothing is pretty much just what it sounds like. Couples who are infatuated with each other can purchase things like matching outfits, fake eyeglasses, socks and other accessories to then wear out, together, in public and take pictures in!
This trend has been hugely popular in place like South Korea and Japan where there almost seems to be a “couples” culture. Everywhere you go in the large, most progressive cities, like Seoul or Tokyo, couples are holding hands and crooning at each other over coffee.
Fast forward a few years and this couple culture and matching couple clothing is beginning to take over and become trendy all over the world! You might have already started to notice it in cities near you, or even where you live! If you’re lucky, you can even discuss these trends on sites like colourlovers.com, where the latest trends, like this one, are discussed!
Moreover, this trend, again, is not only a stark reminder of how alone a person might be but also that it’s cool and cute to dress up with your significant other and if you’re not doing so, then what exactly are you doing?
This trend is also a reflection of just how desperate and obsessed our society is with relationships, dating and being a part of a “couple.” Furthermore, it also shows just how much such things sell and how quickly they can become a trend!
If this point interests you, you could even head on over to this chatroom to get more of an idea about this topic. Chatrooms are always an easy place to learn about the new, up and coming and current dating trends that are happening out there, like couples clothing! If you’re also a little uncertain about it, spending a little time in a chatroom, like Chatib, might give you more perspective and insight into this particular trend!
Dating Apps
There is no doubt about it, dating apps have taken over so much of our world, just as social media outlets have. Dating apps are almost so popular, they’re difficult to ignore! From dating apps like Tinder, to Bumble, this is a massively growing dating trend!
It almost seems like, if you’re not on one of these apps then you’re chances of finding someone are slim to none. It’s one of those situations where “everyone’s doing it.” And if you’re not participating in dating through apps like Tinder, then you’re not very interesting or “keeping up with the times.”
Furthermore, it almost seems as if, because of the every-growing number of dating apps out there, that meeting a person you’re romantically interested in, any other way, just isn’t realistic anymore. Gone are the times where people bump into each other at a store, or walking down the street, or meet, perhaps, through a mutual friend. Now, the hype is all about who you met while swiping right or left!
This obsession with meeting people, romantically, through dating apps, also creates a sort of superficial trend that has started to go along with dating and the dating hype. Since you have to, usually, post pictures on your dating profile on dating apps, it suddenly becomes all about looks. This is because, everything the person is deciding on the other end of the dating app, is based on the few pictures you decide to post.
Dating apps also create a sort of “game-like” experience out of dating and of course, people love games! Anything to keep up entertained late at night, right? On most dating apps, there are certain features meant for entertainment or to hype up the “dating game.” These features are always changing but essentially, they all do the same thing. They suck you in, make it addicting and convince you this is a trendy, cool way to date.
The Bottom Line
If you were feeling as if you’d missed the memo as to why dating and the idea of relationships are more popular and trendier than ever, you’re now in a place, with more information, where you can understand. From couple clothing, to online dating apps that make you feel as if you’re in a game, to the constant bombardment of television shows and movies we see from Hollywood, to social media giants like Instagram that make us feel as if dating is necessary, it’s hard to keep up!
The trends surrounding dating are always changing, but now, hopefully, you can understand a little what people seem to be losing their minds over! Of course, as the story always goes with trends and their link to dating and relationships, there will be new trends and more to catch up on before you know it! Perhaps it’s the trends people are going crazy over, or perhaps it really is love. Who can tell?
