How tech is changing the romance game, for better or worse

Technology has changed much of the way today’s couples meet, communicate, date, and even get married. Girls don’t as often marry their high-school sweetheart after years of sporting his letterman jacket and boys tend not to ask a father’s permission to date his daughter anymore.

(Image via Flickr)

Times have changed. We meet online, send text messages to court, and possibly incorporate robots into our weddings.

Right now, there’s a New Zealand man using technology to his romantic benefit. Reese McKee  is using the Internet to find an American woman he met on New Year’s Eve last year. After enjoying the night together, the woman, known simply as Katie, gave McKee her photo and told him she’s from “DC,” then challenged him to find her. 

The photo McKee was given last New Year's Eve. (Image via Facebook)

Now, McKee has set up a Facebook campaign to find his mystery girl. If you recognize her, let him know.

Not all digital age romance stories go as planned though. According to Huffington Post TV, a television show called “Dates from Hell” that airs on the Investigative Discovery channel revealed an incident of a man names Gilles Tetreauet who used the Internet to find love, but was instead met by a man with a hockey mask who tried to attack him (the man aspired to be a serial killer).

Gilles escaped, but didn’t come forward to the police until he heard a man had been killed by someone wearing a hockey mask.

On a more positive note, take a look at these two uplifting ways technology has played a role in today’s romance.

Kindle Romance

When Scott Allan from Missouri proposed to his girlfriend, he got some help from the Amazon e-Reader called Kindle. He decided to write a romantic story with no ending about how the pair met. Then, he bought her a Kindle as an anniversary gift. His soon-to-be fiancée fiddled with its features, downloaded the first story (written by Allan) and began reading aloud. Slightly confused, she paused and Allen took the opportunity to finish the story with his proposal.

Would you let the Internet follow your proposal?

Matt Van Horn who just left his position as Vice President of the social networking site Path, used a web application to propose (along with some help from Twitter and Foursquare).

Van Horn told his girlfriend that he would be out of town for the weekend and had a friend get her to a particular location while he hid behind a rock. He then Tweeted where he was (his fiancée received the Tweet to her cellphone as a text message) and used Twitter to tell his family and friends how to watch the proposal live with a live stream URL.

Even though ideals are changing, people are not completely abandoning romantic gestures. Just be sure to use caution when incorporating technology into your love life.