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Does social media wreck relationships?
Danny!
Deactivated Posts: 560 Incredible Poster
Spending too much time on social networking sites when you’re physically with your partner, flirting publicly online (even if it’s not going anywhere, it can still hurt), and keeping in touch with exes are all cited as reasons for Facebook and other social network sites contributing to relationships breaking down.
What do you think? Would relationships be better if we ditched Twitter and Facebook? Or can they be a good thing?
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I'm not sure how social media is a special case for that, other than some people think it's an easy target to blame for the ills of the world.
EDIT: No, bad analogy. Let me try again.
...than a racist attack is the government's fault for allowing the victim to go in public.
Say thing that, it's not all bad. I'm not sure what me and Riotbf would do without social networks considering we're in a semi long distance relationship and don't get to see each other anywhere near as much as we'd like.
But heck I wouldn't trust someone who flirted with other people in public let alone online.
Along with things like cyber bullying, social media is more of a curse than a blessing.
I'm a bit undecided on this one. To play devil's advocate, there are a couple of arguments I've heard that say social media is a special case:
What do you think?
It's interesting to hear a positive side too. Does social media give you a form of connection that other things like calling, texting or Skype wouldn't? How is it different?
Would you use something like the 2Life app (a private, secure social network for couples) mentioned in the article?
I might give it a try. It's nice to have something special and separate for us.
Cool - let us know how it works for you!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
That's sad. In your experience, would you say it's worse than the offline bullying which happened before social media (and still happens)? Or just in a different form?
I like that I think it's about relationships - how shifting too much of our focus onto interactions through social media can take away from face-to-face interaction, which is always where the most meaningful moments will be.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
That's a good point - and I suppose that goes for all forms of relationship. You have constant access to the online world, especially with smartphones, and so there's no "safe place" from whatever feelings it brings up in you.
Maybe it's more necessary now to find ways switching off? I think there's a risk that people see social media as something that happens to them - you have to go on Facebook because everyone else is, it shows you photos of people having a better time than you are, your ex posts photos with someone else etc.
But we still have a lot of choice about how we use the technology. We can choose who we're friends with, whose pictures we see. We can choose if and when we look at social media sites. This won't avoid all the problems, but I think as we try out using different technologies in different ways, we can start to distinguish between more and less helpful ways of using them.
I agree with this. Not quite the same; but I had problems last year with someone harrassing me over Facebook. He was reported, blocked and deleted. His response was to set up a new profile and sent me friend reuqsts, which went on for months and months. Police were no help at all either.
Have also been in the situation more than once where I've been harrassed by text. Both people have pretty much blamed me for their behaviour and both claim they've done nothing wrong.
I was bullied at school in the days before Facebook and before everyone had mobile phones. At least then, it stopped when I got home.
Something I want to touch on - when talking about social media and the impact on our relationships, I always think it comes down to the type of users and the relationship they have with social media.
The images are not meant to exactly determine the type of user you are but it's there to give a general idea.
The way we use social media could affect the way we communicate, especially in real life. I've seen friendships ruined because of social media. Whether it's the timing of the replies, or ghosting, or screenshotting... I feel like the miscommunication affects that. And with the instant connection social media gives us, I also feel like it adds another form of pressure.