It also depends on how social media is used. In addition, many polls, opinions, or ideas on different topics may often mislead us to make wrong decisions. This article explores how social media alter your relationships both positively and negatively. Scroll down for more information.
Is Social Media Bad For Relationships?
No. Socializing and relationships are seen through a different lens in the age of social media, where we are hooked on updating and scrolling our pages. Social media has given us the privilege of meeting people from different walks of life, staying connected easily, and eliminating distance. It has not only changed how we look at communication but has also opened us to a variety of possibilities. It has become so much convenient to form connections across the globe that ideas such as falling in love with someone do not seem far-fetched fantasies anymore. But this convenience also comes with a cost. Although social media can strengthen your bond and keep you connected with your partner, it can also be a reason to see your relationship going splitsville. Bringing social media into your relationship can change the dynamics you share with your partner. It might lead to jealousy, unrealistic expectations, infidelity, and loss of intimacy. To conclude, whether social media is good for a relationship or not is decided by the way you incorporate it into your relationship. Let’s now look at the downside of social media on relationships.
Negative Effects On Relationships
1. Sets Unnecessary Standards
Social media can press unnecessary standards on bodies, beauty, and even on love. The social engagement of couples includes posting about each other’s lives, grand gestures, romantic getaways, appreciation, and hoping on couple trends. It also creates a false image of love and relationships. Social media also fails to project that relationships deal with hardships and struggles which people do not put out in the open. Thus, social media and virtual platforms can distort the image of relationships in your mind.
2. Leads To Oversharing
We all have been the victims of the joy of oversharing on social media, and couples are no exception. Couples on social media love updating their followers about their whereabouts and relationship status. People who tend to share nitty-gritty about their relationship forget that some moments are best enjoyed in private. Many couples tend to share gloomy details about their relationships via cryptic posts and stories. Sharing on social media is an unhealthy way to let your partner know about your feelings. Instead, having an open, heart-to-heart conversation can help you arrive at the table.
3. Leaves No Scope For Quality Time
Social media addiction has become a boiling issue between couples. Most couples tend to prioritize their social media presence over their current moment. Due to this, couples find it difficult to make time for each other. They might minimize talking and miss out on creating real memories, which ultimately fades away communication and togetherness between them.
4. Encourages Lethal Validation
Social media might plant deceptive ideas of relationships in the minds of the youth. It has become a key factor for low intimacy in relationships. Couples go the extra mile to validate their relationships through social media posts. This might bring couples to question if their love is only for social media or does it exist outside it? Overuse of social media can drain out intimacy and love in the pursuit of seeking validation from your partner or the virtual world.
Positive Effects On Relationships
1. Helps Stay In Touch With Your Partner
A lot of relationships end due to a lack of communication. In such situations, social media can act as a glue to help you stay connected with your partner. You can keep yourself updated about your partner’s life and communicate easily through messages, video calls, or posts. If you are in a long-distance relationship or struggling to align with each other’s availability, social media is an excellent way to cut the distance. Since communication steers the progress of every relationship, social media helps accelerate it.
2. Helps Gain Perspective
Social media is a great guide to learn about various concepts of relationships. It helps open our eyes to setting boundaries, giving space, gaslighting, and stonewalling. Social media articles and posts help us identify unhealthy bonds and create awareness about toxic relationships.
3. Helps Discover Your Partner’s Lifestyle And Opinions
Social media presence mirrors a person’s lifestyle, opinions, attitude, profession, and personality. It can give you an overview of your partner and help you decide if you both are fairly compatible with each other. Mutual connections in social media platforms help you understand your partner better and faster. It is also a safe place to start dating someone. Does social media create a gap in relationships? Social media may create gaps in relationships, depending on how it is used. If communication over social media replaces face-to-face interactions, that may lead to a lack of intimacy and create gaps in communication within relationships. How social media causes jealousy in relationships? Spending too much time on social media may limit the time that partners spend communicating with each other. Relationship posts on social media may also create unrealistic expectations about how one’s own relationship should look and cause feelings of jealousy to arise. Jealousy may also stem from how one’s partner interacts with others on social networking sites.
