Relationships. We will all have one at some point or another in our lives. Whether it be with a friend, family member, or significant other. However, as advances in social media and electronics are made, our ability to form proper relationships becomes hindered by a screen.
While there are many great things about social media and smartphones, such as connecting with people you haven't spoken in years and video calling loved ones who are miles away, none of this new technology comes without consequences.
When did we decide it was better to have a serious conversation over text or Snapchat instead of in person? When did we decide it was easier to share our emotions through pictures instead of through words? When did we decide that subtweeting someone was the best way to approach a dispute?
These are the more obvious disadvantages, but let's dig beyond the surface.
Social Media Leads To Lust
Have you ever been scrolling through social media and saw a picture of a shirtless man with a hot body or a girl showing off her body in her new bikini? Did your mind become filled with inappropriate thoughts? While this isn't necessarily cheating, it is lust and if you ever spoke your thoughts out loud, it would probably make your significant other feel a little insecure. Especially if the picture is of someone you know personally.
Social Media Provides Revenge Opportunities
This is something of which I am personally guilty. We've all been in a situation where our significant other or someone we're seeing does something to upset us so bad that we feel the need to get revenge.
Depending on how serious the relationship is, or how petty you are, this "revenge" can be as simple as unfollowing them on all social media platforms (trust me this is a bigger deal than it should be) or as extreme as getting on a dating app and talking to other people.
Screenshotting
We have all done this so don't try to tell me you haven't. You screenshot an argument so you can send it to your best friend for their opinion or you screenshot something intimate that was meant for you and only you and God forbid you send it around. There are so many problems with this.
When screenshotting an argument, you most likely screenshot only the parts that make the other person look like the bad guy. While this may seem like a good idea at the time, after a while this may affect your families and friends opinion of the other person if they think the other person is always the bad guy.
Also, once you send out a screenshot, you no longer have control of who sees it and who doesn't. And there is no denying what was said or done because it's right there for everyone to see.
So, while screenshotting may seem like a good idea at the time, maybe you should think a little harder before you do it the next time.
We create enough of our own problems without the help of social media. Trust me, nothing and no one on social media is worth losing the person you care about most.