Mobile Romance

Solis, R 2006, ‘Mobile Romance: An Exploration of the Development
of Romantic Relationships Through Texting’, Pilipinas: A Journal of
Philippine Studies, vol. 45, pp. 18-28.

Solis’ study investigates the capabilities of texting as a means
to develop intimacy in a romantic relationship. This research explores the circumstances
under which the relationship is formed, the levels of intimacy reached, and the
characteristics of texting that facilitate the relationship. Solis surveyed 73
initial participants, with 43 of those participants selected for further, in-depth
questioning. Results of the surveyed participants show that when initiating a
romantic relationship, the autonomy and anonymity of texting were key factors.
In regard to the maintenance of a romantic relationship and the development of
a higher level of intimacy, the most important factors were the accessibility,
immediacy and affordability of the technology. Solis disputes existing opinions
which state that texting is impersonal due to its lack of visual and aural cues,
revealing that couples compensate for this by using smiley faces and other personalised
shorthand.

Solis is a research instructor at the Ateneo de Manila
University. He has a wide repertoire of published journals and book chapters
and has presented papers at international conferences throughout Asia and
America. His work focuses on the development of media and communication,
particularly within communities in the Philippines. Solis maintains that
existing theories on the use of technology as means of communication between
couples should be reviewed, claiming that this form of communication should not
be discarded as superficial. Whilst results of this investigation will be
useful to the formulation of my essay, the research does have some limitations.
Firstly, the study focuses solely on texting and does not explore the use of a
broader range of technologies, including those with visual or aural
capabilities. Secondly, the research places emphasis on relationships that are initiated
via texting, rather than also including relationships that originated offline.