When it comes to romance, texting is often seen as a bare-minimum form of communication. It's fine for firming up Wednesday night dinner plans, but for expressing heartfelt sentiments? Not so much.

That was made pretty clear last week when reality TV star Kristin Cavallari had to defend her fiancé, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, from those who poked fun at her story of their second engagement.

"I was in the airport, leaving Chicago," Cavallari, 26, tells E! News in an upcoming reality special about her nuptials. "We had just spent however many days together and we were texting and somehow it came up, like, 'Oh, shall we get married?' We're like, 'Yeah, OK.'"

The couple were first engaged in 2011 but split up briefly before reconciling that same year. Even so, Cutler faced criticism over what many saw as a too casual digital proposal. Cavallari later pleaded on Twitter for people to "stop bashing Jay" because he had proposed earlier in Mexico "and it was very romantic."

In the digital age, technology isn't killing courtship. But for many young couples, it's redefining what romance looks like.

These days we often text instead of speak, use FaceTime instead of having face-to-face discussions and zip through online dating profiles with the same speed it takes to order a pizza. Convenient, sure, but "The Notebook" it's not.

These habits have many wondering if technology is getting in the way of real romance. But let's be honest: How many of us have gotten into a heated, or just plain hot, text exchange with a love interest? Chances are, many of the messages saved in your phone are more intimate than your standard pillow talk.

From AOL to OKCupid

Since the early days of the Internet, we've used tech as a tool to broaden our prospects for meeting others and finding romance. We've come a long way since those AOL chat rooms, and even traditional dating sites are giving way to smartphone apps that can do the matchmaking for us. Using your phone's GPS feature, mobile social apps such as Blendr, Grindr, Are You Interested? and Plenty of Fish help you zero in on potential dates, or hook-ups, right around the corner.

For the daring, OkCupid recently launched a Russian Roulette-style app called CrazyBlindDate, which sets users up on short notice with someone they know almost nothing about.