Modern Relationships Are Threesomes Between Two People And Their Social Media

Social media has become the bane of our existence. It is such a constant nuisance, yet it is still something we consider to be a ridiculously important aspect in our society. As much as we don’t want to admit it, social media runs our lives. In the morning, we routinely take our phones and click on Instagram to see what events we’ve missed out on, check Facebook to see what’s been on people’s “minds,” and then tweet our often-random thoughts into a snappy 140 characters. Face it, we’re all obsessed, but has this obsession reached an all-time low? Are we really that addicted to the social media world that exists on our iPhones and computers?

Yes, we are. We’ve head-on immersed ourselves in social media, and in return, we’ve let social media invade almost every part of us. We willingly let social media break the boundary between personal and public with just one click. Worst of all, social media has effortlessly made its way into the most arcane and private piece of our being. What is so concealed and important that social media has stomped in on? Our love lives.

Yes, you’ve read that right; social media and our love lives have naturally become intertwined with one another. When two people become a couple, it’s instantly updated on each person’s relationship status on Facebook. When you’re mad at your SO, you harshly formulate an angry sub-tweet on Twitter. If you’re curious to know what your blind date looks like, then you can easily check on Instagram. One simply follows the other. Get it? In our world today, we measure means of love and dating by what social media has to offer us. Is this a match made in heaven, or is this one couple we shouldn’t admire?

While others think these forms of instant gratification and extremely public displays of affection are beneficial for us all, I really can’t agree. Delicate things such as dating and our love lives going hand-in-hand with social media doesn’t seem to be ideal. Having people knowing our every move is creepy enough, but for everyone to have a say in how “cute” of a couple two people are or determining your “#relationshipgoals” based on pictures from Tumblr is a bit much.  It appears that social media is creating unrealistic expectations for our SO to reach, while also openly showing two people’s fondness for one another, or lack-of as well. With every click, post, and tweet, we are instantly giving people an inside scoop on our dates, past and present lovers, and much more. It seems that with social media, people are more susceptible to making their lives, and more importantly, their love lives, less and less private. Something that is so personal between two people has become something that everyone is involved in. Forget being in a reserved relationship with one person because once you add a filter and upload that photo, you’re exposed to the opinions, advice, and unnecessary likes of millions of people.

So now what? What do we do about this mismatched duo? We can all safely admit we have succumbed to the evils of love via social media, but how can we change this? In my opinion, the best way to overcome this complicated relationship with have with social media is to pay less attention to it. Even though social media is a huge step in communication amongst others, it can be pretty harmful, especially when it creates conflicts between two people. It seems that when in a relationship, ignorance of our dating pasts is bliss, but with social media, we are exposed to everything we do not want to see. Relationships, love, and dating are all intimate parts of our lives, and I think it’s best to say we might want to update those parts to private from now on. Sorry, social media, we aren’t accepting your friend requests in the love department anymore.