You meet someone at a park, grocery store, or school. They ask for your number, and if you’re interested, you give it to them. Two days later you receive a call from that person, and the call lasts three hours. Within a week, you go on a dinner or movie date.

How “terrestrial” does that sound?

We are a generation living in a technology-driven world where a large portion of communication happens through text messages. The three hour calls are reduced to 50 or 100 text messages a day. The standard dinner and a movie dates are replaced with a “Hey. Let’s meet at a bar” date.

San Jac student Vivian Villareal is now engaged, but she said dating is not what it was when she was in her early twenties.

“Well, I remember when I was about 20, and I was dating. Guys actually used to call. Now it’s like all texting. It’s so annoying… Dating back then was much more interactive,” Villareal said.

Millenials prefer texting instead of calling because it’s fast and convenient. The problem with text messages is there’s no way to interpret tone.

According to the article Technology, Dating and You by Dave Singleton published on match.com, communicating via text or email eliminates emotion.

“At least with email you can more fully express yourself. You aren’t stuck with a limited palette of emoticons, acronyms, and just a few, probably misspelled words. But make no mistake. Both texts and emails are devoid of irony, tone, humor or any of the key essential ingredients of communication,” Singleton states.

San Jacinto College student Amber Gonzalez said she can’t always tell the mood of a conversation through texting.

“I like to text,” Gonzalez said, “but what I don’t like is that, sometimes, the person I am texting can say something and mean it in a humorous way and I won’t read it that way. I’ll read it and think they’re being sarcastic or rude. Then I get mad and reply ‘stop being rude’ and they respond ‘I was kidding.’ So then it’s ‘well next time make sure you put an LOL’ – because LOL makes everything ok.”

To many people, technology is negatively affecting dating. However, according to Breeanna Hare’s article, How Technology Has Changed Romance, published on CNN.com, technology is actually revamping dating.

“In the digital age, technology isn’t killing courtship,” Hare states, “but for many young couples, it’s redefining what romance looks like. These days, we often text instead of speak; use FaceTime instead of having face-to-face discussions.”

Meanwhile, San Jac student Victoria Tovar said courtship via texting does offer certain benefits.

“I’m a really shy person and to me, saying what I really feel comes easier if I text rather than if I have to say it face to face. And I also feel more comfortable about flirting through a text message. It’s just more fun with texting,” Tovar said.

Whether you are a supporter of texting or against it, one thing is certain – texting has impacted the dating world. With the rapid evolution of technology, who knows, maybe a few years from now even texting will sound “terrestrial.”