From handwritten notes to TikTok love declarations, how people say “I love you” has evolved significantly with the rise of the digital age. Before technology, soldiers on the battlefield poured their hearts into handwritten letters to their significant others back home. Schoolgirls slipped bashful love notes into their classmates’ desks. Long distance lovers would spend hours on landline phones, deep in conversation.

Today, their modern counterparts might be an affectionate text or voice note. Phone calls, while still a popular option, lose their charm because of the convenience with which they can be made. Each Valentine’s Day, over 145 million cards are exchanged in the United State, but fewer than 10% are handwritten—a testament to how much our love languages have, for the most part, gone digital.

The “Valentine” dates back to the Middle Ages in London, where St. Valentine was first associated with love and romance. In 1415, Charles, the Duke of Orleans, referred to his wife as “my Valentine” in a letter – the first recorded use of the word as a term of endearment.

Throughout the earlier centuries, courtly love letters and poetry were popular methods of conveying romantic feelings. The Victorian era was somewhat of a golden age for romantic notes; letters were full of metaphors and a prime outlet for emotional expression. Writers would often enclose a special token for their lover within their note – a lock of hair, a pressed flower or a spritz of perfume.

With the start of the twentieth century came the rise of Hallmark greeting cards and mass-produced, factory-made Valentines. Hallmark first began producing Valentine’s cards in 1916, and they were immediately popular with the public.

Then came the digital boom: the 1990s introduced emails, instant messaging and “e-cards,” or digital Valentines. Affectionate notes and love letters were more convenient than ever to send, but the increased convenience caused these declarations of love to lose their charm and personality.

This trend of “e-cards” or simply just sending a text message, email or phone call; while this is not surprising, given the prevalence of technology in daily life, the words “I love you” hold less weight.

Digital love letters lack the permanence and the same emotional weight of physical cards or letters. Handwritten communication will always be more personal because of the effort it takes to put genuine feelings and words on the page.

But that does not mean that digital platforms cannot make love more accessible. Technology can enhance romantic relationships in more ways than one might think, from shared Spotify playlists to apps that augment long-distance relationships. Couples also communicate over social media platforms, such as Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, by exchanging content and loving messages.

While some could argue that traditional romance has been lost to time and technology (and in some ways, it has), the presence of digital tools has caused love to adapt to changing cultures.

But one fact is certain – the sentiment behind a love note, whether penned on paper or typed on a screen, will remain timeless.