By Jeremy Binning
Valentine’s Day used to be a day filled with love and compassion. What happened to buying your significant other a bouquet of flowers and a heart-shaped box of chocolates? Nowadays young adults aren’t focused on others in a relationship unless it’s beneficial. In 2022, the era of self-love has began, and more people are focused on their careers and future. With apps such as Tinder and Bumble, hook-up culture has been taken to new heights, with many people preparing to have a one-night-stand over going on a date and actually getting to know someone. According to Refinery29, a digital media and entertainment website, 21% of people worldwide use dating apps for this purpose. Which leaves many to wonder — where’s the love?
It seems most people are more interested about the latest episode of Euphoria or watching the Super Bowl than what they’re going to do with their significant other during the holiday of celebrating love.
“Of course I have a few plans for my girlfriend and I this Valentine’s day,” Michael Eskander, a senior majoring in information technology, said. “I don’t look at [Valentine’s Day] as a big deal like when I was younger. I guess it’s just a part of becoming an adult.”
It could be true that becoming an adult does take away the fun from things we used to enjoy, like giving out V-Day cards to classmates in elementary school. However, social media seems to be one of the main sources where people get their newly adapted lifestyle choices from. Practicing and preaching independence has been just a few of the toxic trends that has recently increased in popularity on social media. With this new trend spreading, it seems to be the reason Valentine’s Day isn’t as big as it used to be.
But if you’re in a relationship, wouldn’t you want everyday to feel like V-Day? Daniel Cantwell, a junior majoring in broadcast journalism, explains how he and his girlfriend like to regularly spoil each other from time to time to keep the relationship feeling new.
“Rather than buying gifts just for anniversaries and birthdays, I try to buy my girlfriend things every now and then to let her know I think about her, and she always tries to one-up me every time. It’s like a friendly competition on who could spoil who more,” Cantwell said.
This is one trend a lot of young adults are slowly starting to follow thanks to the likes of Tiktokers Danielle Cohn and Micky Tua, as well as other countless Tik Toks of “couple goals” posted throughout the app.
Christina Bonne-Annee, a senior majoring in public relations, explained how she is going to spend her Valentines Day having a self care day.
“Laying with my cat with a facemask on and catching up on my shows is about all I really want to do. I do think the day isn’t as celebrated and festive as it used to be, but I don’t think of it any less,” Bonne-Anne said. “I’m enjoying the single life, but when I do get in a serious relationship I definitely want to make Valentine’s Day more special. I’m good for now.”
For some, Valentine’s Day is just a regular day. For others, it’s a day for them to show their significant other how much they mean to each other. Regardless, it should be looked at as a day of celebrating love and compassion, whether being in a relationship or not. Back in elementary school, we would give candy out to our classmates for the festive day, and as adolescents, it wasn’t looked at as anything more than that. Hopefully, the upcoming generation can learn from back in the days and make love popping again.
