1986 was a time where mobile phones first started to sell in the US and people could start communicating more easily and it was also a time when diverse relationships weren’t as common. Technology was just starting to advance but in todays world where everyone is using their phones to communicate with one another. Culture was also starting to move forward as more and more races began to have relationships. The way that Eleanor and Park fall in love is completely different from any modern love story. A modern love story nowadays has two people using their phones to text people their feelings or social media to help them fall in love. While in Eleanor and Park, neither of them even owned their own phone and the only way to every communicate was in person or using their home phones. Eleanor and Park does not classify as a modern love story. Eleanor and Park don’t use phones to communicate in their relationship. In modern day love stories a cellphone is a huge factor in someone’s relationship. In the book Eleanor says, “There was no use telling him that they didn’t have a phone” (Rowell 82). With Eleanor not having a phone there is no way for her to contact Park unless their are in person. But in today’s society people are using their phones more and more to reach others when they can't be seen in person. A recent study in Womens Health Magazine shows that the majority of people would spend over 10 hours using social media or talking to others. The most time used in total would be text messaging clocking in at over 90 minutes a day. The sheer amount of time we spend on our phones is no surprise but compared to Eleanor and Park who don’t even come close to the amount of time we use on our phones, making their love story not modern. Social media has had an huge effect on how people update each other on what’s happening in their daily lives. People are always updating on Facebook what’s going on in their lives all around the world. For example updating a relationship status or posting about how they feel right now. In Eleanor and Park no one knew that they were both dating until Park told Steve to “‘Leave ... my ... girlfriend... alone.’” (131) in which Steve responds, “‘You’re my friend. I didn’t know she was your girlfriend’” (132). This is showing how uninformed everyone was and how back then you needed to announce it to everyone. The modern equivalent to what Park did would be to go on Facebook or any social media site and update your relationship status about it. A survey from Market Research, shows a study of social media users who use Facebook, that 38% of 18+ people
