Technologically Enhanced Dating

Abstract

This chapter argues that there are several ways in which technology has impacted and shaped and describes the ways in which relationships start, progress, are maintained and end. While technology has vastly increased the volume of potential partners available to an individual, it has also transformed the pace and order in which a relationship develops, and, potentially, the way in which humans go about choosing a suitable partner. The increased integration of technology into the maintenance of existing relationships also poses new questions about whether or not geographically close partners should use technology to communicate. Additionally, there may be scope for new technologies to be developed that are specifically designed to improve existing relationships—rather than requiring that people appropriate technologies designed for the workplace to connect with a wider network—or for one-to-many communication. The chapter has also raised the possibility that the increasing development of technology may begin to change our existing attitudes both to monogamy and to human–robot relations.