Yeah, in my view, going on a date means going out to in a one-on-one format. Going to each others' house is just normal friend stuff, with the only difference from hanging out with my same-sex friends being sexual activity.
Are you telling us that kids these days don't have boyfriends and girlfriends? Just fuck buddies? The biological phenomenon of falling in love evolved out of the species in one generation? I don't believe it.
This is more about interest. Two opposite sex unattached adults hanging out alone with each other will probably progress to dating if it goes on long enough unless there is something explicitly wrong with a sexual relationship (aka one person doesn't have a normal sexual drive/whatever).
AKA, there may be sexual interest simply due to the lack of immediate alternatives but neither party knows how to express it outright, so the flirting and hanging out together becomes more overt until its clear to both parties.
(PS: This is sorta why you don't see a lot of married opposite sex people "hanging out" alone in private. There is an understanding that your putting both people in a position of temptation, or if nothing else the situation definitely fires up the rumor mill because frankly there is a high incidence of cheating, and this is one of the clearer ways this happens. ).
