KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — The courting and dating process sure has changed. A lot.
It used to be a call. Now it's a text. It used to be a dinner date. Now it's a meetup.
The process is complicated and local singles feel the pain.
We are kicking off this week of love and romance with a special series on Modern Dating.
Millennial Dating
Boy meets girl. Boy calls girl. Boy and girl go to dinner. Girl wonders if boy will call for a second date.
Now it's girl and boy both swipe left, and left and left again.
Boy and girl see each other, both swipe right. Girl agrees to meet boy with friends and in a public place for a cup of coffee. Boy and girl have fun. Girl wonders if boy will text within the hour.
It's a tough world out there.
"You don't want someone who's going to ghost you after a couple of weeks," said Carly Bourne, a millennial.
Sharing snaps, incessant texting, online dating, Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, these are the norm in the modern dating world.
"In the past, there's the pressure to physically go out and meet someone whereas now dating apps and websites have become so popular that essentially you can find a soulmate online," said millennial expert Erin Freeman.
It's as easy as shopping for an outfit.
"It's supposed to be a lot easier to use a dating app or to meet someone online, but I think we still want that connection face to face on Tinder or on Instagram first," Daniel Herrera, a single millennial, said.
And this is where the divide between older millennials and younger millennials comes in.
The younger set wants to meet face to face, through a friend, at a party.
"I'm not a big online dating guy. I don't use dating apps. I am actually super old school. I'd rather meet you in person and get to know you that way," Herrera said.
Older millennials are oftentimes busier with their careers so they prefer online dating.
"Millennials per average are spending up to 10 hours per week on dating apps," Freeman said.
And this can be hard too.
"Experts say that it can lead to a tremendous amount of unhappiness because of the options that dating apps provide," Freeman said.
The courting process is totally different.
"It's more group settings and not one-on-one in the beginning. More like texting, not calling, following each other on Instagram," Bourne said.
Playing 'hard to get' is still a thing, though.
"I'm going to wait 30 minutes to respond or take 30 minutes to open their Snapchat," Bourne said.
The big takeaway, many millennials are still traditional, but in a modern way.
"I like to take somebody out to dinner, grab a few glasses of wine and try to really understand somebody," Herrera said.
"Millennials still say that they strongly desire to eventually get married now they are putting that off and making that a choice later in life because they are trying to finish their education, get established in their careers," Freeman said.