The Phenomenology of Short Message Service (SMS) Courtship among College Male Students of Manila

Abstract

The study regarding changes on the courtship style among Filipino male youth in the Philippines is limited. This study shows how the evolvement of communication through technology has created changes in relationships and people’s way of communicating with one another. Philippines still remains as the texting capital of the world based on the study published in the website of the Manila Times (2012). Given this fact, relationships have been established through constant exchange of SMS (Short Message Service) and this leads to the study of the researcher. Key-informant interview elicited accounts of men in courtship mediated by text messaging or SMS. The study describes the experiences of male college students in Manila who engage in SMS courtship. This explores whether the traditional courtship has been adulterated by the onslaught of technology-mediated communication that serves as a new mode of courtship.