Mobile romance is spreading as mobile phones reach to all corners of the world. We take a look at how the mobile phone is aiding the cause of romance in different parts of the world.

 

ue’ and ‘Joe’ first met online at a dating site. After months of getting to know each other, they finally meet up and are now dating regularly and will soon be marri… screech ..stop! That’s so another generation. Online is not the only place where romance is happening anymore, it’s also likely to be through a mobile phone.

All over the world, people are learning that mobile phones are great at finding partners and also at keeping the romantic flame burning.

It’s being touted as a generational change. Young people have grown up with mobile phones and the way they use them is very conducive for social networking. Older people find it more comfortable to make phone calls and that appears to be a taxing and uncomfortable way to build romances. On the other hand, young people text more than they talk and these people are also beginning to do instant messaging on their mobile phones. Both of these services are excellent at keeping the flame alive as contact is constant and the frequency is high.
At the most basic levels, mobile users flirt through text messages.

Mobile Romance Builders across the world
More innovative location based services are emerging. Most services work on the concept of alerting users when a potential match is in the vicinity. A user would typically enter personal details on a website and that site would match the user with other members. Using GPS, the service would then track a person and help bring people together when they are in the same location.

One such service popular in the US is Dodgeball. This mobile application was acquired by Google and it helps keep people keep in touch while on their mobile. Users will know where their friends are. Locally there are the ‘friend finder’ services offered by the telcos which do their part to keep users informed where their friends are but applications like Dodgeball go far beyond just letting users know where their friends are.

In China, mobile romance is very big. There are many mobile services that bring together singles. Mobile dating services are big money earners in the world’s biggest mobile community. People can sign up for services that send alerts when a potential match is nearby. These services are very popular and hundreds of thousands of Chinese romance seekers are signing on.

In the Middle East, where interaction between the opposite sexes is almost non-existent, the mobile phone is sometimes the only way people can find their loves.

On the BBC website, there is a heart warming story of how a couple in Iraq managed to fall in love. Through college friends, Nasreen and Ohmed got to know one another, first through text messages and then short and hurried phone calls. The friendship progressed to love without them seeing one another.

Physical contact, so to speak, was done with detailed planning and flawless timing. Ohmed drove to a spot outside her house and pretended to receive a mobile call. Nasreen found an excuse to come out for a moment and, discreetly, the couple had their first look at one another.

This was no illicit relationship as a formal proposal soon followed their ‘meeting’. The account ends with them finally receiving approval from their parents to marry. We of course wonder if they did tell their parents how important the mobile phone was in bringing them together but we’re guessing not.

Over in India, PHD student Carolyn Wei of the University of Washington’s department of technical communication has researched the important role mobile phones are playing in India’s Silicon Valley city, Bangalore. Not surprisingly, she found that mobile phones play a crucial role in relationships among young people there.

High tech workers in Bangalore often lead very hectic ’24-7’ type of working lives. They typically work for outsourcing companies and work times often follow different time zones.

Many were involved in long-distance relationships with someone working or studying in another city and the phone provided a “perpetual virtual connection.” Even couples working in the same city found the phone crucial for maintaining relationships.

She cites several instances where mobile phones played a role in romance:
• In arranged marriages: A young man was given some time alone with a prospective bride-to-be and he had one question for her: “What is your mobile number?”

• Between working couples: One research participant often called or sent text messages to his wife, also living in Bangalore. If he lost his mobile phone he would be scared, he said, not because he had lost a phone but because he had lost his connection with his wife.

• Traditional etiquette: Indian mobile phone companies typically bill the person making the call. Men will occasionally ignore or hang up on a girlfriend and then call her right back, a modern instance of picking up the tab.

• Domestic spats: One partner might deliberately ignore calls to punish the other, or one might become angry when the other wasn’t answering. In one instance a participant threatened his partner that he would not answer her calls for a month.

Of course, a look at mobile romance will not be complete without the famous Mills and Boon romance making an appearance.

Romance lovers will be happy to know that the publisher of these famed romance novels signed a deal in UK in 2007 where their popular books would be transformed into mobile novels. Apparently their Japanese distributor had great success doing that in the Japanese market. The downloads are priced between $4 and $10 per novel.

And finally from Malaysia we bring you the story of how Louisa met Irvin. She was working part time in a tele survey company and one of the cold calls she made was to Irvin. Finding him polite and possessing a nice voice, she took down his number. For a few days she alternated between wanting to send him an SMS or just directly make a call.

Finally she sent him an SMS, explaining who she was and where she got his number. Of course he was surprised to say the least but responded anyway. Soon they began long chats via SMS and made occasional calls.

After a couple of months, they both met up for a mamak session (yes, the ‘ubiquitous as mobile phones’ mamak shop!). The relationship became romantic and they have been together for more than three years now.

There’s no doubt then that all over the world, it’s a fair bet that the mobile phone would have played some part in most romances. At Valentines Day, it might be appropriate then for all lovers to pause and pay homage to their personal mobile device. And those that haven’t found romance yet would be well advised to start using their mobile phones to find that perfect match.

Our tribute to lovers comes in the form of lovely Turkish romantic text messages in the accompanying box. We found their translations on a website. Anyone still seeking inspiration for a love message cannot go wrong with these ‘cute’ messages.