Social Networking Will Be The Death of Your Relationship
Girl 1: I think he’s cheating on me.
Girl 2: What? Why?
Girl 1: He friended his ex on Facebook and then she liked a bunch of his pictures and posted on his wall that she was back in town and would inbox him her new number.
Girl 3: Now girl that’s a clear sign that ninja is cheating, you better handle that
Girl 1: Yeah. I’m going to ask him about that. I don’t like that at all.
Ladies and gents, we all know how this scenario ends. Girl 1 asks her dude what’s up with his ex and why all of sudden she is coming out of the woodwork and her dude denies any allegations. In fact, the dude may become upset because nothing like that was even going on, he hates his ex and he can’t control her actions and what she says and comments on. Girl 1 isn’t hearing it and now is suspicious of her dude and, whether or not he is cheating, Facebook has given her reason to distrust her man.
Taking it further, Girl 1 now looks at his Facebook page regularly to see how many females he is friending, what are these females saying, and who or what he is saying to his female friends. Questions such as why doesn’t he want to link her in his relationship status, or worse yet, why doesn’t he want to even include his taken relationship status on his page? Why doesn’t he write on her wall or want her to leave sweet lovey dovey messages on his or why doesn’t he want tagged photos of him and her together?
Eventually, her suspicions manifest in very obvious ways offline and she becomes overbearing. Fights start because of her new insecurities and maybe she starts snooping or questioning his whereabouts more. Maybe, she starts questioning his affiliations with different people more. Whatever the reason, the two split and the relationship death certificate states boldly that Facebook ended yet another relationship.
The truth is that as exaggerated as you may think this is, this is a very real scenario and plays out quite often. Facebook has given strangers, employers, friends and significant others alike the power to access our lives in very real ways that otherwise was unheard of. Remember when you told your best friend you couldn’t attend her birthday party because you were out of town? Well she saw that tweet where you were ranting off about how you hated the smelly man that asked you for a dollar outside of your house.
Social networking sites have created a sort of checks and balances on the things we say and the places that we go. Your girlfriend said she was staying home all weekend but on Foursquare she checked in to Club Refuge in order to gain free admittance and a complimentary drink. In an attempt to stay connected with virtually everybody, the small white lies we tell are very often brought to light on the internet.
Of course, some people care more than others but the people who tend to care the most are usually our significant others. This access to your life when you are away from them mixed with an insecure boyfriend or girlfriend or even a budding relationship can be the demise of what could have potentially been a good thing. Often posts either by you or another person are taken out of context and with no way to verify the information, some people allow their suspicions to get out control and run rampant.
My personal rule with social networking sites is to take everything I read and see with two grains of salt. Nothing on these sites is proof of anything and if everything is going well offline then there is no need to get too wrapped up on what is going on online.
One glance at my Facebook page and a person would mistakenly believe that I live some extravagant lifestyle where I travel to exotic places, that I’m single, party hard on weekends, and have an overabundance of friends that I am tight with in Chicago. This couldn’t be further from my actual reality, but that’s exactly the point. Facebook isn’t reality and to expect it to have any factual content or be a legitimate all access view of someone is naive.
One glance at my Facebook page and a person would mistakenly believe that I live some extravagant lifestyle where I travel to exotic places, that I’m single, party hard on weekends, and have an overabundance of friends that I am tight with in Chicago. This couldn’t be further from my actual reality, but that’s exactly the point. Facebook isn’t reality and to expect it to have any factual content or be a legitimate all access view of someone is naive.
Should you question what you see and read on these sites? First, question if you really know the person. Afterwards, think of how they are actually are offline. Does your inference of their online presence match the person you know offline?
I’m sorry but if your boyfriend is a homebody who spends most of his time playing video games and collecting Star Wars figurines, those online females that are saying hey and trying to “reconnect” are bored and probably think your boyfriend is cute. Take it as a compliment that girls find your boyfriend attractive and move on.
