As we roll past the first 10th of the 21st Century, today's teenagers have grown up alongside technology—whether it be our first Motorola Razr we got as we entered middle school, or if you were really cool, the Sidekick—most of us were indulging in the excitement of digital communication and other perks of technology, before even hitting puberty.
Surely, this reaped many benefits. Our parents could now confidently allow us to go play outside, knowing they could contact us whenever necessary, we no longer had to share a house phone with our parents or siblings whenever we wanted to discuss last night's episode of iCarly with our friends and we got to discover the fun, new method of instant message communication: texting.
However, as the years went on, digital communication became less about private text message threads, and more of a public forum. Today, with social media networks like, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat, anyone can join the conversation. As a result, privacy has become a rarity.
Today, a teenager's idea of a romantic gesture, is how their significant other portrays them on social media, whether or not they post Instagrams of one another, tweet about each other, and how often they frequent appearances on each other's Snapchat Stories typically dictates how happy the couple is among their peers. Although, what happened to the personal displays of affection? What happened to turning our cell phones off and taking the time just to be together? Of course it can be nice to see our significant other putting their feelings for us out on the public forum from time to time, although, when the relationship only exists for the public eye, it loses all tender intimacy between the two of you. The term "relationship goals" puts a serious strain on this problem. More and more people display their relationship on a public forum for the approval of everyone else. Where is the intimacy there?
What's worse though, is the actual upset there can be in a relationship due to the absence of such displays. Today, plenty of relationships fail just at the expense of the content of one another's social media. What today's teenagers are not understanding though, is social media is for the public, and your relationship with your significant other should be kept—more or less—private. That line has become less and less distinct as social media has evolved.
Another significant issue, is when there is drama between the two in the relationship, and one or both of them decide to take their personal issues to social media. I hate to break it to you guys, but tweeting petty insults about one another and posting blank Snapchat Stories with messages on how upset you are with one another will do nothing but hurt your relationships. Relationships are hard enough to maintain without involving the opinions that you will get from anyone who receives said information.
So yes, make each other happy, and if you want to post a "Happy Six-Month-Anniversary" Instagram of your significant other while you're out to dinner or what have you, go for it. Just keep in mind, your image on social media is not a replacement for who you are. Social media exists to enhance and share the good things in your life, but not take over your life entirely, and at the end of the day, remember that your relationship with your significant other, exists only for you two.
