Social media and relationships

Social media and relationships

By Kellie Hynds, LMFT

Do you ever wonder if social media is threatening or potentially ruining your relationship? 

Social media was originally intended to help others stay connected with far away friends and family. Today it has evolved into something that can have both positive and negative effects on relationships. Many couples have had concerns regarding how social media has affected their relationships and what they could potentially do to fix the problem. 

Some of these problems include causing functional impairments with face-to-face communication, especially with the isolation caused by Covid. Excessive social media use can impact quality time and relationship satisfaction as well as cause possible conflict. There is also danger of one partner developing an addiction which takes away even more time from the relationship. 

The biggest danger of social media is the avenue that it provides for creating infidelity-related behaviors and/or jealousy. 

There are several signs that social media might be having a negative effect on your relationship. Some of these are that you check your partner’s social media obsessively for signs of cheating or dissatisfaction with your relationship; you find yourself wanting to replicate couples you see online; you compare yourself and your loved ones to those you see online; you feel inadequate or insecure when you look at other relationships or find yourself scrolling social media when you’re meant to be spending quality time with your loved one. 

Some tips that might help fix these issues are to use social media in moderation by making an effort to put your phone away during meals or time spent together. Setting healthy boundaries and expressing these to your partner is also important. Finally, being realistic and not comparing yourself to people you see on social media is important. If this starts to become a problem consider taking a break fora bit or just pausing to check in with yourself.