The popularity of social networking sites are increasing among the older generation, and with it more and more people are picking up on friendships that ended many years ago. This also includes rekindling old flames from loves lost, a practice that has coined the phrase retrosexual.
According to TIME, as Facebook users have begun to skew older — the website is now as popular with 30-, 40- and 50-somethings as with the college students who pioneered it — they have found ways to reconnect with one another. And who better to get in touch with than an old flame? "Facebook makes it easier for you to take that first step of finding someone again," explains Rainer Romero-Canyas, a psychology research scientist atColumbia University. "It has finally provided a way for people to reach out to someone without fear of rejection." The Boston Phoenix even coined a term, retrosexuals, for people who are taking the plunge into recycled love.
Most retrosexual experiences seem to spring from an intense, almost uncontrollable mixture of nostalgia and interest. "You get a thrill out of finding an old girlfriend just to see if she still likes you," says W. Keith Campbell, aUniversity of Georgia psychology professor and co-author of The Narcissism Epidemic. "You're curious to see what she looks like, and it's easy to fantasize about alternative courses your life might have taken." It's the same feeling that compels people to attend high school reunions.
Whether this will lead to another sexual revolution is anybody's guess, but the facts seem to point to a whole lot of sexual activity among people in an age group where sex normally tapers off. Go gramma!
According to TIME, as Facebook users have begun to skew older — the website is now as popular with 30-, 40- and 50-somethings as with the college students who pioneered it — they have found ways to reconnect with one another. And who better to get in touch with than an old flame? "Facebook makes it easier for you to take that first step of finding someone again," explains Rainer Romero-Canyas, a psychology research scientist at
Most retrosexual experiences seem to spring from an intense, almost uncontrollable mixture of nostalgia and interest. "You get a thrill out of finding an old girlfriend just to see if she still likes you," says W. Keith Campbell, a
Whether this will lead to another sexual revolution is anybody's guess, but the facts seem to point to a whole lot of sexual activity among people in an age group where sex normally tapers off. Go gramma!
