Cheating is becoming normalized, and that's not okay.

All over social media, there are endless tweets about how “everyone tweets,” and “cheating is something that happens in every relationship.” On Facebook, I see posts about people cheating and getting forgiven, even though they shouldn’t be.

And the Snap Map has already “ruined lives” by exposing people who are cheating. People in relationships should feel secure in their relationships, but with the current culture regarding the subject of cheating, more people in relationships are feeling paranoid.

There are hundreds of ways that you could cheat because of social media. When I got into my first serious relationship in high school, Kik was a big deal. There was a site on it where you could post a picture of yourself, and people who were interested in you could start messaging you. I was absolutely afraid that my then-boyfriend would use that site to cheat on me.

Thankfully he didn’t, and we broke up for other reasons. But now the culture surrounding relationships, and specifically cheating, makes me afraid to get into one now.

Twitter is mainly where I see that cheating is becoming more normalized. It became increasingly prevalent when Blac Chyna was exposed for cheating on Rob Kardashian. There were so many tweets saying, "I would’ve cheated on Rob too if it was with him," followed by heart eye emojis and pictures of the guy she cheated with. After that incident, I would read replies to these tweets, which glorified cheating and how "if a fine man wanted to go home with me and I had a boyfriend of course I wouldn’t refuse the offer."

Tweets about monitoring your girlfriend or boyfriend on social media, were also on the rise. Other tweets about how cheating is okay and how the cheater should be forgiven were also popping up on my timeline. I’ve also known people who have catfished their partner and found out they were cheating because they started talking to the persona and pretended to be single. And now people pretend to be single all the time.

We as a culture need to stop normalizing cheating. You should not be scared to go through your significant other's phone or social media accounts because you're afraid you'll discover something that will hurt you. This should not be what consumes us in a relationship, which I learned the hard way. I could never post pictures with him, I could never be on his Snapchat Story, and there turned out to be another girl.

If you genuinely suspect that your significant other is cheating, leave them, instead checking their phone when they’re not looking and seeing if they’re talking to to other people. If you’re constantly having to ask, “Who’s ___,” they aren’t worth your time because that other person is probably someone you have to worry about. A relationship that involves cheating is not at all healthy, and shouldn’t be endured. Everyone deserves a relationship where you are each other’s biggest fan, and don’t have to worry about if they’re cheating or not. Real relationships are hard to find now because of the “talking” stage and the dates of only “chilling” together. But these real relationships still exist and cheating isn't a part of them.

Cheating should never be normal nor forgiven.