Keywords

texting, smile, social media, dating, love, honesty, sincerity, subtlety, cell phone, acting

Abstract

There's nothing like dating to turn us into a miserable puddle of falsehood. When we're with the person we like, we fight to play the game and find the right balance of not showing too much interest (so she'll know that you like her) and showing enough (so she doesn't think you don't). It's an art. But when we're only texting, we can behave however we'd like as long as we choose our words carefully; we don't even try to hide our emotions, and the perfect strangers surrounding us see more of our unabashed smile than the object of our affection. That's the texting smile: the façade when you're with her, and how the walls go down when you're not. But is that really the way? What would happen if we were more honest? Is it worth it?