Week Twelve Post One

While reading chapter nineteen, the section on finding each other and living together really struck my interest. Social networks are the major innovation of the current cohort of emerging adults. About three-fourths of all 18 to 29 year olds in the U.S. use social networking to keep in touch with hundreds, or even thousands of others. In addition, many young adults seeking romance join one or more matchmaking Web sites that provide dozens of potential partners to meet and evaluate. The issue with this is that passion is hard to evaluate without meeting in person. Some young adults overcome this by filtering their online connections, arranging a meeting with only those that seem promising, and then following through with only a few. Sometimes social networking provides too many potential partners, increasing choice overload, which occurs when too many options are available. Choice overload increases second thoughts after a choice is made and causes some people to refuse to make a selection. Having many complex options that require weighing present and future advantages and disadvantages makes choice overload more likely, although more research is needed. The second major innovation among emerging adults is cohabitation, which is an arrangement where a couple live together in a committed romantic relationship but are not formally married. About 40 years ago less than 1% of all households were comprised of cohabitation, now it’s more than 5 percent. This section interests me mostly because I have tried online dating and dealt with choice overload, so I can relate. I also learned a lot that I didn’t know and now will be able to apply to every day life.