Eagerly waiting for a text from your boyfriend? Sending an IM across the country to a long distance significant other? Professing your love to someone on a cell phone and the call was dropped? Technology is now a part of your love life, for better or worse. The ability for people to use technology is important when it comes to communication. So having some basic tech skills can have an impact on your relationships, if you want to use text messaging, Skype, instant messaging, e-mail or chat services. Technology can also cause problems within a relationship as well.

So what do the statistics say? I only had a small sampling and all of the responders were female, but there was a large consensus. Most of the responders would prefer to date someone who was more knowledgeable about technology than they were because it either shows intelligence or would be useful to have a tech savvy person around. Most replied that they would not avoid dating someone who was more tech savvy than they were because they could learn from the other person, but one reply stated that a person who was always on their phone or computer could get to be pretty annoying. While the ability to use technology could be useful in a relationship, all responders said that a lack of tech skills would not be a deal-breaker in a possible relationship.




Even with the best tech skills sometimes things do not go as planned. Delayed e-mail, dropped calls or an instant messenger that keeps logging you off in the middle of a conversation can all be rather troublesome. Text messages that were not delivered seem to cause the most problems. Additionally having a significant other that barely remembers to check their voice mail is also a slight annoyance. One anonymous responder to my survey stated that in relation to tech-related failures, "it's not the other person's fault. Technology doesn't always work and we have to realize that."

Technology can impact relationships in profound ways, such as improving communication, but can also be a distraction from the relationship. Obviously text messaging, instant messenger and Xbox Live can keep people even more connected, but there are support groups springing up on the internet for "Gamer widows." World of Warcraft Widows, or WoW Widows, seems to be the most common group for women (and occasionally men) who feel neglected because their significant other does not realize just how many hours they spend playing their Massively Multiplayer Online RPG. It may be hard to believe, but there are enough hours in the day to devote to your significant other and to whatever your game of choice may be. It's just a matter of scheduling.