The Social Media Takeover
Social media plays such an integral role in the lives of the Millenial generation. Tweeting about your meals, Instagramming your outfit each morning, Facebooking your exact location to your 1,400 “friends.” It gives us more exposure than anyone 15 years ago could have ever have imagined having.
This phenomenon seeps so far into our lives that it manages to invade our personal romantic relationships. One can be Facebook friends with anyone. Your neighbor, your aunt’s dog, that guy you sat next to in math class when you were in fourth grade. But what is the etiquette for “friending” someone on Facebook or finding out their Twitter handle? Who should do the friending? Is this like dating? Should the guy friend first to be polite? If the girl sends the friend request first, is that too aggressive?
And once the dating stage is over and a couple is official, the relationship status comes into play. Facebook has this silly little thing where you can put “single,” “in a relationship” or “it’s complicated.” (I think the latter means: we’re just sleeping together, but would like to have a semblance of a relationship. Honestly, I’m not really sure, though.) How long after you decide to be in a monogamous relationship is it appropriate to change your relationship status? With the use of smart phones, you could feasibly change your relationship status as you are having “the talk.” But is that appropriate?
On the flip side, what if you choose not to change it? Or even post a relationship status at all. Would that be suspicious? Is this a way of masking a girlfriend or boyfriend?
And then there is Twitter. It seems so many people are having public flirting and fighting via this method. I scroll through my feed and begin to notice that two people I am “following” are having a fight over last month’s anniversary, which of course he forgot even though it’s listed in her Twitter bio. I pop my popcorn and sit back to watch the words fly through the web. This seems to be very different from having a fight with your significant other in the comfort of your own home. Remember back when people used to do that instead of posting it everywhere?
Will we ever draw a line on the role that social media plays on our lives? Or will we keep going until it destroys our relationships and make it impossible to effectively communicate face-to-face? Only time can tell.
Dating and Relationship blogger, Sara Maldonado is a writer and social media guru currently navigating the sea of men while having an affair with the city of Washington, DC. She enjoys coffee, laughter, and a good hair day.