Hm, very interesting topic. I think that the word love has and is being overused and used carelessly by many people. I remember when I was in middle school and high school and I too was in love with the idea of being in love. I wrote a lot of poetry during that time and it was all mostly directed a guy who I didn't even talk to and who I claimed to "love." It was obviously an infatuation, I can see that now. But at the time, since I was in love with the idea of being in love, I just looked for someone where I could reflect those feelings on. I mean, I use to talk to this guy around seventh grade, and in eight grade we stopped talking because I was too shy and so was he. So from then on I would just claim to "love him from far away," as corny as that sounds. I really didn't know him, to claim that I loved him, but I really didn't know any better at the time. Thankfully, I never told him about this so called "love" that I convinced myself I had for him. The point is that I think many teenagers are also in love with the idea of being in love or they idolize a person or the relationship when it's not really what they think it is. And yes, others just use it because they think that's what the other person wants to hear so they don't think twice about what they are saying. I think I learned my lesson, I can only hope. And for all of you hopeless romantics out there, think before you speak.

I think there's really two separate issues here: the kids who use the word "love" to convey even the slightest affection, and the unfortunate saps who are prone to falling deep into an infatuation they think is true love after a single date. The former need to watch themselves to make sure they don't break any hearts, and the latter I'm all too familiar with.

Or is love just strong, instinctual biological altruism that gets stronger when you're in a more sexually mature, stable relationship and that one expresses towards mates and offspring (or anything analogous to that)?

I think most teens use it for lack of anything else to say. I mean, when you're talking on the phone and you want to express your feelings, you can't very well say "I like you" and hang up. They say "I love you" as a more personal way of saying goodbye.

Of course, the older you get, the more you understand that it's not just a greeting and that it's really something more. I've also found that girls seem to realize this earlier than guys. I made the same mistake of telling my first girlfriend I loved her when I still wasn't sure if I was at that stage. She took it very seriously, so when things didn't work out, she took it a lot harder than I did. This is not to say I wasn't upset, but she was much more upset because she thought we had something more than what we really had.

The second time around, I took it a lot more seriously (probably because I began dating my second and current girlfriend as a high school senior, whereas I dated the first as a sophomore) and didn't tell my girlfriend I loved her until I was dead sure, which was a few months in. She was sure long before that, but I have a tendency to take things really slow (don't ask how many dates it took for me to kiss her).

So do I think this counts as overuse? Perhaps. It's not really love, yes, and it can be confusing since you can't tell if someone's just saying it or if they really mean it. I think teens just need to realize that love is more important than that. But what else can you say if you want to be more than friends but aren't sure you're in love yet? Well, what can you say other than writing poetry and quoting Shakespeare?

I definitely think that people are overusing the word love. I don't think it means that much to teens in highschool but I think as you get older it means more.