As I scroll through my respective news feed, double tapping photos of dogs and memes and Kylie's latest selfie, I suddenly stumble across a photo of an old friend. A friend who I do not talk to anymore, a friend that I have not seen in months, despite the fact that we live in the same small town. I feel a slight bit of sadness seeing the post, as I remember that we are no longer friends. Reluctantly, I double tap, and maybe look at the picture a little longer than others.
But why?
Maybe I feel like I owe her something, the urge to like her photo because we used to be besties. Our friendship ended out of nowhere, and it still hurts. Maybe this is my way of apologizing. Maybe my double tapping is me trying to bring a dead friendship back to life.
To be honest, looking at pictures posted from an old friend or an ex-significant-other hurts. They have moved on without you. They have new friends now. They forget that you were ever best friends. It is hard to see a life that you are no longer a part of.
Even so, everyone does it, either with ex friends or ex significant others, or maybe both. We want to see what they are up to. Maybe we miss them, I know that I miss a lot of my old friends terribly. We are holding out hope that because we like their social media posts, maybe the relationship can rekindled. We want our name to pop up on their notifications as a way of saying,"Hey! I'm still here. Remember me?"
And that notion is so stupid.
People change, and people leave our lives for one reason or another, or sometimes, no reason at all. Relationships die. With social media, we feel like we still have some little connection them, but in reality we do not. Social media is facade. Most times, as mentioned before, looking at pictures from ex's hurts, and that's normal, but it is not normal to keep following them if it is making you miserable.
The best thing to do is delete. Unfollow. Unfriend. Block. Whatever you need to do. Many people continue to keep these people on social media because they struggle to let go of past relationships, however, letting go of past relationships is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. One way to do that is by deleting them off of social media. If seeing their post hurts, makes you painfully nostalgic, or makes you yearn for a relationship that is no longer there, it is toxic for you, and it is time to delete.
Keeping people in your life who you no longer maintain healthy and symbiotic relationships with, is detrimental. Social media posts from old friends are not worth it, I promise.
So, if you have people like this on social media, get rid of them. They are no longer a part of your life. They have no business seeing how you are, especially if they hurt you or your relationship with them is toxic yet you still struggle to let go. They no longer serve a purpose in your life, and it is only hurting you to see their face on your screen. Seeing their posts can send old memories screaming back, and that can hurt, too. People change and it is hard to let go of relationships. Deleting friends off of social media is a small step with a big affect on getting over an ex friend or ex significant other.
Delete, unfollow, unfriend. It's much easier to go about your day, scrolling through social media, without seeing their posts.
