Social media platforms have created new channels where people can freely express their thoughts and enhance connectivity amongst themselves. The various online platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat have brought both positive and negative effects on the daily lives of individuals. For instance, social media has given people the ability to share ideas and discover exciting things that they would have otherwise not realized. On the other hand, however, the platforms have interfered with the people relationship and how they relate to face-to-face interaction (Dwivedi et al., 2018). The venues have a great potential of causing issues with individuals' diverse relationships; it has affected many couples, friends, and parents. The problems interfere with the family bonds that existed before the excessive use of social media. For example, it is common nowadays to see couples having dinner while checking their phones instead of socializing. Face-to-face interactions have been interfered with because of the social media addiction that spouses are facing. Thus, social media adversely affects people's relationships by reducing social skills, creating trust issues, enhancing cheating among spouses, creating mental problems, and damaging privacy.
Social media is as addictive as consuming drugs; the addiction is quite prevalent among young couples. Addiction is devastating because partners lose the social skills that can help them strengthen their relationship. People could sit together and even face each other, but they don't interact because they concentrate on their social media pages. The addiction has become too much that couples fail to reconnect by sharing their feelings daily since each person is focusing on viewing the online posts. Therefore, the habit can make them miss some valuable conversations that may be important to the family (Baccarella et al., 2018). The intimacy also becomes affected because everyone is busy replying, commenting, and viewing other people's posts instead of giving time and attention to their partner. In some instances, the addiction can make parents forget to pick their kids from school or even check on their homework activities. The results make children feel frustrated because they lack someone who can give them quality time when they need it. Some partners may even suffer stress if they fail to use the platform after some duration; the addition becomes too much that a person's urge to use the online platform grows every minute.
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The excess use of online platforms results in mental health issues like anxiety and depression, negatively affecting the relationship. It can be heartbreaking to see a partner suffering from anxiety because of the over-dependence on social media. In some instances, distinguishing between reality and social media can be blurry; some individuals may see others bragging about their seemingly perfect bodies, which could cause depression. The fake life in social media may make many people suffer mental disorders because a person may immensely admire the lifestyle that people post on the media (Berryman et al., 2018). The comparison may make an individual feel dissatisfied with his/her own life, and thus creating problems in the relationship. Some couples can even feel jealous of others and of what their lives seem to portray, causing unhappiness in the relationships. Additionally, some of the posts may impact a person's self-esteem leading to isolation. The continual lifestyle comparison to perfect couples' posts may make a person feel worthless.
Social media also promotes infidelity in relationships; some people may start to cheat on their partners after making friendships and relationships through online media. Some couples have caught their partners cheating through online platforms, which has led to constant emotional and physical battles. The interactive platform makes it easy to initiate a conversation with an old friend, school mate or colleague; these conversations could lead to other things like a dinner date or lunch meetings. The meeting could be innocent at first, but the more they interact, the stronger the bond becomes, resulting in flirting and confiding in someone else about important issues besides your partner. The interaction series may make a partner cheat on his/her spouse either emotionally or sexually (Adams, 2017). The problem of online cheating is even reinforced by the fake things that people post on the platforms. A person may be slightly unhappy in his/her relationship, and then when he/she sees someone else posts, the individual may imagine that their lives are perfect. The imaginations may distract a person from his/her relationships, making it simpler to practice infidelity with someone online.
The online platforms also create conflict amongst partners. The social media accounts give access for a suspicious or jealous partner to search for information concerning the interactions of the significant other. Whether the suspicions are founded or not, individuals will often feel angry after seeing and confirming something suspicious on the other person's account. The doubt thus leads to more monitoring, conflict, and jealousy in the relationship (Dwivedi et al., 2018). The trust in the relationship may also start reducing because of the uncertainties in the relationships and fragile emotions attached between spouses. Lack of trust between partners can be dangerous because it can make the couple start fighting or even divorce each other.
Additionally, social media can also damage the partners' privacy, especially by disclosing confidential information during online arguments. Some couples may bring their differences on Twitter, YouTube, or even Facebook; thus, they may display their anger and post some profanity-filled videos on the platforms. The information posted can be widely shared, leading to a negative image. The negative post can affect them even at work or school; their children can become bullied because of their parent's position. It is more damaging because all the harmful posts will remain forever in the online memory. The online posts can also invite unnecessary attention, drama, and gossip that can affect the affected individual's mental well-being, leading to more severe consequences. Besides, the opposing online arguments may make other people judge and opinion the fighting couple's relationship.
Moreover, cyberbullying is another problem that people in a relationship may face due to social media use (Baccarella et al., 2018). People may give a mean comment or reply to other couples' posts. The negative comments may be shared widely, thus affecting the spouses. There are instances where a person may suffer extreme depression or even commit suicide due to cyberbullying. Online harassment may progress for a more extended period making the couples suffer for a long period. If not controlled earlier, the consequences of cyberbullying may affect the children of the intimidated couples leading to another dangerous problem, especially if the kids are adolescents. Also, the impact can reduce an individual's productivity both at work and home, leading to undesirables results.
Some groups of people argue that social media is helpful in a relationship because it brings individuals together despite the prolonged physical and geographical distancing that may be existing. Social media supporters claim that couples in a long-distance relationship can interact freely through the created platforms and share their feelings (Siddiqui & Singh, 2016). Social media supporters also claim that it has brought better understanding in the relationship because people's posts help assess people's compatibility. Also, the supporters claim that the online platform increases bonding because of the likes and comments that people give on each other posts. However, the claims are not valid because the online platform has widened more distancing even when couples stay in the same house. The addiction has made the users concentrate on their phones, thus reducing the emotional attention and obligations that they should give their partners. The understanding in the relationship has also been damaged because people do not trust each other. Jealousy on couples' posts has resulted in more conflict leading to mental problems. Subsequently, the family bond has been damaged because of the zero interaction between partners. Social media has starved the couples of learning and modeling with various social cues like communication and interpersonal skills. Therefore, the platforms have brought more problems than what its supporters are claiming.
In light of the discussion, it is evident that social media is amongst the harmful elements in society, and especially for people in a relationship. Its excessive use can result in grave consequences if not controlled earlier. Social media negatively invade the privacy of couples, mainly through bullies and hackers. It affects the mental health of the spouses mainly through the stiff and fake lifestyle competition in the interactive platforms. Online addiction is also a severe matter involving couples because they spend a lot of time online, losing intimacy bonds and one-one conversations, which are essential in a relationship. The addiction also increases anxiety, hamper normal couples' routine, and leads to time wastage. The online platforms also invite conflict in the relationship because of mistrust resulting from jealousy and suspicions. Therefore, to minimize the adverse effects, partners must avoid posting their private personal activities on social media, and they should only use it only when there is a necessity.
References
Adams, A. N. (2017). Social networking sites and online infidelity. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3379
Baccarella, C. V., Wagner, T. F., Kietzmann, J. H., & McCarthy, I. P. (2018). Social media? It's serious! Understanding the dark side of social media. European Management Journal , 36(4), 431-438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2018.07.002
Berryman, C., Ferguson, C. J., & Negy, C. (2018). Social media use and mental health among young adults. Psychiatric quarterly , 89(2), 307-314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-017-9535-6
Dwivedi, Y. K., Kelly, G., Janssen, M., Rana, N. P., Slade, E. L., & Clement, M. (2018). Social Media: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Information System Frontiers , 20(3), 419-423. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-018-9848-5
Siddiqui, S., & Singh, T. (2016). Social media its an impact on positive and negative aspects. International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research , 5(2), 71-75.
