Social media is known to be beneficial in ways that can inspire us to be creative. It can also be a great platform for connecting with people. But are we ready to admit that social media can also be harmful? 

Relationships before social media had a much more simple approach, and chivalry, as we can all admit, was more common. Social media today can create insecurity and jealousy due to miscommunication and misunderstandings of the actions your partner may make. It can create a sense of fear and mistrust within a relationship. 

“Digital flirting” has become more common with the rise of social media and some may believe that it’s technically harmless because it’s not a face to face interaction. 

 A joint survey conducted by adult dating sites ChristianMingle.com and JDate.com said, “82 percent of women and 56 percent of men considered texting and online flirting a form of unfaithfulness.”

Social media can also lead to obsession and a great sense of insecurity. 

When you spend too much time online, it starts to become your reality and you may end up forgetting about the real people around you. Unhealthy habits can form by constantly checking to see if your partner is online or looking to see whose pictures they’ve liked and reposted. 

It becomes a force of habit to lurk on people from our past and it can quickly turn into discovering something you didn’t want to see. Despite the ways social media can be harmful, the use of technology, in general, can also increase toxicity in your life. When a toxic relationship forms, it can quickly lead to sneaky and insecure behavior such as tracking your partner and snooping through their phone.

We are fortunate enough to be able to access almost anything we need, yet we tend to use this as an excuse to be locked on to our devices daily. It can easily become an issue when a habit forms as you find yourself turning to your phone for any kind of entertainment whenever there’s a second of silence. 

This is not to say that you must turn your phone off whenever you’re with your partner in order to have a perfect relationship. Instead, it’s about learning how to balance your attention with the people around you and your screen. 

Increased amounts of screen time can make you and your partner distant from each other despite being in the same room. Overtime, this will create immense amounts of tension between the two of you. According to Cyber Psychology,

 “Individuals with social media addiction are often overly concerned about social media and are driven by an uncontrollable urge to log on to and use social media.”

Breakups can be incredibly difficult to deal with on their own, but when you add social media to the mix, it can prolong the process of self healing. 

Social media has proven to be an addiction for many individuals and it’s almost inevitable that you will come across an ex-partners posts. Constant reminders like these can make the healing process practically impossible, as you find yourself focused on portraying an image that makes it look like you’re doing better without your ex rather than trying to move on from the relationship entirely. 

Social media is as much of a blessing as it is a curse within our lives, so it’s absolutely critical that we keep focusing on maintaining a sense of balance. Teaching yourself the right times to explore online, and the right times to put the phone down is beyond important to truly enjoy real life. 

Becoming aware of your presence online and your presence amongst the people around you will also teach you how to be truly aware of yourself.