When text messaging first came out in the 1990s, it would revolutionize the way we communicate. It meant that dating would never be the same.

Many people have been affected by texting, whether it be to start a relationship or even to end one. So how involved is text messaging when it comes to dating? Has it changed the dating game for better or for worse?

Most people would agree that texting has made dating a lot easier. The dating game owes just as much to the cyber-courage provided by cell phones as it does to the reliable liquid courage that alcohol has been providing for years. If, for instance, you meet someone at the bar or even at school and they give you their number, it's a lot easier to send that person a text and ask them out. The safe haven of your phone's screen and keyboard allows for communication and the possibility of dating without the sting of rejection or any awkward silences. If you don't want to talk, you can choose not to reply and blame your wireless network once again for yet another long lost message.

The problem you find with text messages, though, is it's less personal. I can text five guys at once, flirting with all of them and none of them would know. Text messaging for some is just a game when it comes to dating. How many guys or girls can you talk to at once? At least when you are on the phone with someone, the conversation with him or her is more intimate than through a simple text. Many emotions get lost in texting as well. A simple "LOL" or smiley face isn't as genuine in a message as it is when hearing the laugh or smile in someone's voice.

Also, once that initial text message is sent, it becomes a habit. Some people can have entire relationships based on text messaging. I know I have, and some of my friends have dated a guy for months and never had a phone conversation. How awful is that? Have we really gotten to a point where we find it so hard to communicate with others in person that we need to resort all communication to technology?

One guy I dated would discuss any conversation, including important ones via text. If I called to talk to him he would text me and say, "Sorry I missed your call," and would then ask, "What's up?" Inevitably, we broke up through a text. Shocker. If someone calls you, you should call them back, not text them. Just because we are able to text does not mean that it should be the only way some of us communicate with one another. Just like many other aspects of relationships, everything has an appropriate timing.

In the end, sure, text messaging makes it easier to date, but maybe it has just made us cowards. Maybe courage is when you pick up the phone and ask someone out or have the guts to break up with him or her in person rather than to their phone. Maybe things are easier through a text, but dating and relationships have never been easy.

So, has text messaging really changed dating for the best, or for the worse? I think that depends on you, and how you let texts affect your life. The one thing I know is that it has changed the way we date as we know it.