Technology is altering the way we connect, date and even break up. With apps like Tinder and Hinge, dating is more virtual than ever before, and sites are taking user profiles from Facebook and Twitter to create the perfect match based on interests. But what happens when social media turns your significant other against you?
Here are 3 ways social media is ruining relationships from micro-social network site Virtual Artifacts and how consumers can get themselves back in the driver’s seat when it comes to dating
1. Stops You from Staying Mysterious
The limited privacy settings of social media platforms make it easy for people to access information about us. According to a 2013 report from Pew Research, nearly 30% of users with recent dating experience have used a social media platform to get more information about someone they were interested in dating. While most of us have details from our private or professional life that we may not want a potential love interest to know straight away, social media can stop us from staying mysterious. The open nature of most platforms – and the potential for things to be taken out of context – can mean we sometimes don’t get the opportunity to decide when we disclose personal details.
2. Reveals Your Relationship Track Record
The content we and our old flames share through social media can act as a catalog of our dating history. Pew Research’s Online Dating & Relationship Report states that 17% of social networking site users have posted pictures or other details from a date on a social media platform – this number climbs to 31% for users aged between 18-29. This makes it relatively straight forward for someone to get an idea of our relationship track record through our social media presence.
3. Makes It Difficult to Make a Clean Break
After things have run their course, social media can prevent you from making a clean break. The connections made through social networking platforms can lead to complications, even when a relationship has come to an end. As stated by Pew Research, 22% of all social networking site users have been forced to unfriend or block a person they’ve dated. Content shared through such platforms can also be an unwelcome reminder of past relationships – 17% of users have untagged or deleted photos of themselves and someone they were previously in a relationship with.
Source of statistics: Pew Research, “Online Dating & Relationships” (October 2013): http://www.pewinternet.org/
