Social Media Relationships

  Social Media Relationships 

     Is it really necessary for people to post on social media  to show they are in a relationship or pictures of every moment they have in their relationship? As social media grows users expand the content that is being posted and show what is going on their life. The topic of posting about relationships has lingered around. The debate is if people have to post a picture of them with their significant other to show they are in a relationship. People argue that it is unnecessary to post these pictures to show they are in a relationship while others need to show other that they are and they are happy.

        The people that are the side of the argument that feels they should not have to post they are in a relationship feel that people that do post about the relationships are having to prove they are happy. In Why I Don't Share My Relationships Online, by Rainesford Stauffer, she finds it odd that people need their "relationships to be content" This quote shows that Stauffer is arguing against people that post regularly because she feels like people are posting for the content instead of really showing their happiness in the relationship. This is a recurring problem in social media because users get carried away and start posting every day of what they do with their partner and people become annoyed because they start getting tired of the same post over and over again everyday. Stauffer comments, "For the most part, though, I love seeing my friends' happy posts, and in general, I say let people have their happiness." In this section of the blog she agrees that people are allowed to post pictures of their relationships and show they are happy and she points out she is happy for them. After this statement she talks about an argument she had with her friend about why she does not post about her relationships that says, " I like to keep my private life private." This is a perfect statement about why people do not post about their relationship because they do not feel that it is necessary to share to others what they are doing on their own time. 

    As the blog goes on Stauffer realizes she might not be posting about her relationships because she is scared that they will fail and have to take it all down and have people ask about it. Stauffer asked some professionals if it is a good or bad thing that she does not post about her relationships and found some interesting answers. She found that people that do not post about their relationships struggle with opening up to their partner and takes longer to get their trust. She realizes that she is worried something bad will happen and not work out so she does not post about her relationships. She finds another professional's comments on the topic and finds that "under-sharing" in todays world was normal ten years ago because of how social media has grown throughout time. Rachel Sussman, a licensed psychotherapist, states, "People tend to share all aspects of their relationship to day at all stages, and I'm not sure that is always  the best way forward or the healthiest way." this helps prove that it is not a good idea to post about relationships every step of the way because somethings are better off private or kept between the two partners. A result from posting every step is people may try to spread information that is not true or even lead to negative backlash on the relationship. Shortly after Sussman talks about how she knows people that base their relationship on what they post and can be very dangerous and is not a healthy way to maintain a relationship. She states, " I think it is dangerous for us to think that just because someone is not posting, they are not happy, It could actually be just the opposite." Sussman helps show that people have a better chance of being happy in a relationship when they are not posting because they are keeping things private and no one knows what they do on their free time. 

    In conclusion, people post everyday about their relationships and show others some things that can benefit the relationship if it were to be left unposted because privacy is a strong factor in some relationships. People that do not post about their relationship are not necessarily scared that the relationship will fail but just may need longer to gain trust for them to be able to post. There is a happy median for how much to post about relationships because not posting might hurt one person in the relationship while posting too much can hurt both people in the relationship. As social media grows the normal amount to post about the relationship increases and I believe people need to slow down and find that somethings are not meant to be posted about.