Social media does not ruin relationships — people do. There are thousands of ways to meet, search, find, connect, hookup, and explore people online. Online dating is a billion dollar business. Twitter has spawned countless hookups and relationships. Facebook will reunite you with your elementary school crush, high school boyfriend, his cousin, and your prom date all within a few clicks. All of these outlets can bring you the love of your life, or the embarrassment of your life … Catfish anyone? With the influx of social media, texting, Instagram, and every other “gram” of some sort available, there was bound to be a backlash.
I have been reading comments from men and women about how social media ruined there relationship. Many of these comments have been directed at or made after someone has been caught cheating. Is it easier to have access to men and women who you would not normally meet while working at Target? Yes. Has social media made it easier for the “Average Joe” to communicate with the “Unattainable Girl”? Yes. Is it easy to fall for someone based on their Instagram pics? Yes. Does your ex really actually go away if you’re able to Facebook stalk their every move? No. Here are just a few other questions for you: Does Twitter have a penis? No. Does Instagram have a vagina? No. Does Facebook call you and ask you to go out? No. OK, just checking.
The last time I checked, making a conscious decision to actively pursue someone, whether it be through texting, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, is a decision a man or woman makes on their own. Social media has definitely exacerbated the shift in our culture to not respect the boundaries of marriage and relationships. How many of us have hit on somebody we see online? You know you have, so don’t act like this is brand new. We see a celebrity, model, sports figure, or attractive guy/woman on our timeline and our hormones transform into a free for all of lustful comments, DMs, or “like” clicks on all of their Instagram pics.
We see someone we like, want, want to sleep with, or are curious about, and we have absolutely no filter in letting them know. Our phones and computer screens have become a safe place, a border if you will that not only grants us immediate access to anyone, but also does something to our psyche, and we are filled with an insane amount of confidence we’ve never had before. We post intimate pics of ourselves, we ask celebrities out on dates, we tell married men and women that we could love them better then their spouses, we post #mcm (Man Crush Monday) and #wcw (Women Crush Wednesday) pics with that tiny inkling of hope that our crush will like us back.
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I can understand where the blame on social media can come in. Maybe if he had never started following her on Instagram, they never would have met, and he never would have cheated. Perhaps if she didn’t post all of your relationship woes on her Twitter feed, that dude would not have been able to start telling her he’d do all the things you weren’t, and she would not have cheated. He or she would have never met if it weren’t for Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, so it’s social medias fault! Right? No. Is it wise to post all of your relationships issues on social media? Well, no, not unless you are willing to be open to the big ass can of worms you are opening up. Social media is a huge circus and we all play our parts in it. When you put yourself and your relationship on front street, you have to be able to handle all of the guests who arrive at your door. Guests that you have invited in. Guests that would not be there without your willingness to allow them to be. Guests that know that you two argue about money, sex, his ex-girlfriend, or your mom always in your business. You did that. We do that. We invite everyone in and then get pissed when some guests don’t leave.
Our relationships fail because of us, and the choices we make, the lack of self-control some of us have, the ways we allow people to treat us, the over sharing many of us do online, which for most takes our relationships into a negative space. Why? Think of it this way: When some people become rich and/or famous, they turn into complete douchebags with inflated egos right? Well, did that person all of a sudden turn into a douchebag, or were they already a douchebag that now has a platform to display their douchebaggery? Was this douchebaggery developed over time, or exacerbated by the money and fame? Social media has done the same thing to some of us and we have transferred that onto our relationships.
My ex-boyfriend cheated on me with a co-worker, and I caught him looking at her pictures on Facebook often. Her Facebook profile did not make him cheat, his penis did. Instagram does not make you jealous of that girl/guy your significant other follows and constantly comments on their pics, you do. Twitter did not make your boyfriend start talking to that girl, DM her, meet her and sleep with her. He did that all on his own (with the help of his penis too). Again, I agree that the outlets to meet people and the chances of becoming involved with them increase due to social media, but our self-control, insecurities, happiness, and jealousy are governed by no one else, but ourselves.