**The column below represents the personal views of the student journalist.
Romance these days doesn’t begin the way it used to. It starts with a follow, liking someone’s story, or replying to it. This is how modern romance begins, through a screen. People don’t take the time to get to know someone in person and understand their body language and tone. Instead, they rely on read receipts and emojis. These cause missed connections between people. Someone can be different in person then they are through the screen, which creates unrealistic or overly high expectations.
Relationships often feel rushed because of social media. Social media makes it a whole lot easier to talk and share personal things to someone else, it substitutes face-to-face interactions and conversations. It allows someone to be a better version of themselves, but hides who and how they are in person, these things make the relationship feel more forced than genuine.
Social media has changed communication in relationships. According to Pew Research Center, about 95% of teens own a device, and most have social media and use it on a daily basis. This shows how many teens rely on social media. Although social media can be helpful in some ways, making it easier to stay connected to people from a distance, giving cute ideas, it also messes with the connection in a relationship and their trust. Text messages remove tones and body language, both of which are important parts of talking to a person face-to-face. Even replying late leads to confusion, problems, and/or arguments.
Social media can also create jealousy and insecurity in relationships. People are constantly going through their partners’ followers, their phone, and their likes, which leads to overthinking most of the time. Platforms such as tiktok can make things worse because people post relationships warning signs about cheating and other things. People overthink because of online validation, making them think it’s a true sign even though it’s really not. This breaks trust, creating unnecessary arguments that wouldn’t have happened if social media didn’t influence them.
Social media creates really unrealistic expectations. Couples on social media post dates, gifts, and what seems to be a perfect moment on a screen, those types of videos never show reality. People often compare their relationships to someone else’s online. thinking that their relationship isn’t good enough. Those people begin to focus on the relationship’s appearance, instead of the connection and bond they could have.
Some people say that social media can help with fun ideas, sweet things, and keep in contact with people far away. However social media can be bad for relationships when people start to care and focus too much about what others think of them, which ruins the relationship.
Social media could make people feel like they need to be famous or to go viral. but a good relationship has trust and honesty and most importantly, talking to each other. You can’t do these sorts of things on social media when trust, honesty, and communication are important parts in a relationship.
If you’re wanting to keep a relationship and have it strong in the future then keeping distance and having boundaries for social media will help the communication, trust, and the bond and connection better. Spending more time with your partner in person, communicating more about insecurities and other things in person, and avoiding comparisons, will help grow a stronger relationship. social media should be a tool and be helpful, not to replace genuine bonds and connection, it shouldn’t be about online validation.