Sex, Romance, and Technology: Efficiency, Predictability, and Standardization in College Dating Cultures

Alecea Standlee

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.19.1.01

Authors

Alecea Standlee Gettysburg College, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4468-7145

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.19.1.01

Keywords:

Sexual Behavior, Relationships, Social Media, Technology

Abstract

This article considers the extent that new forms of communication technologies developed in the last half century have contributed to new forms of sexual and romantic relationships flourishing among early adults in the United States. This project pays particular attention to the implications of that during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns and the increased dependency on technology that followed. This empirical work uses the theoretical framework provided by the scholarship of George Ritzer (2004), which focuses on the social narratives that drive labor into increasingly rational and functionalist operations, which he terms McDonaldization. This project uses interview data collected from college students to explore attitudes and social forms related to casual sex and the development of serious romantic relationships among participants. In an analysis of the data, three key trends have emerged that can be understood within Ritzer’s theoretical frame. Research participants utilize and value technologies within their intimate relationships as information filters that provide efficiency in creating relationships. They also demonstrate the use of technological, organizational, and connective tools as means to control relationships. Finally, technological tools and symbols signal a kind of semi-standardized symbol of commitment to the relationship, though the meaning of these signs is still contested.

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Author Biography

Alecea Standlee, Gettysburg College, USA

Alecea Standlee is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Gettysburg College in the United States. Her scholarship examines the implications of the integration and normalization of online communication technologies in the lives of Millennials and Gen Z. Recently she has come to focus on examining the impact that the abrupt transition to remote learning, primarily digital communication, and forced computer-mediated relationships that manifested during COVID-19 had on research participants’ perceptions of online privacy, identity, community, and its lasting implications. She has published in New Media & Society, Inside Higher Ed, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, and elsewhere.

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