Is Teen Romance Dead? I’m 17 and I’m Sick of Snapchat Situationships | Teen Vogue

In this op-ed, Gabby Burke wonders what happened to teen romance in the Snapchat era, examining the state of dating culture for youth. When I was 13, someone told me that if I didn’t kiss a boy by 16, my chances of dying alone would go up by 60%. The science was questionable, but the damage was real. I’m now 17, unkissed, and statistically doomed, I guess — but very much still here. And maybe more confused than ever. I’m 17 years old and I’ve never had a serious relationship. I don’t use Snapchat or participate in any kind of online dating, which, in 2025, is basically the same thing as not having a social life at all. I rarely post on the social media I do have and I keep a close circle of friends in real life. Data shows that my lack of social media use is not average for someone my age, but the dating aspect isn’t so atypical — at least according to 2015 statistics, the most recent I could find, showing that only about one-third of teens at the time had ever been in a romantic relationship. Still, the idea of teen romance looms large
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