Welcome

    Have relationships lost their meaning these days? Has social media destroyed the true meaning of true love? I was in 5th grade when I first got my social media account, I was only 11 years old and I already fell into a trap of body dysmorphia, the feeling of unworthiness, and comparing my body to others online. I would find myself not wanting to post anything because I did not want to get a low amount of likes. Now that I am in college, I find myself not caring as much anymore. When I scroll I see the posts about kids I graduated with and an occasional couple of posts. I see influencers online and I see elaborate proposals or even kids my age who are dating and are already doing a couple of photoshoots after being together for a short amount of time. Being here I was always secretly scared to post pictures with a past boyfriend of mine because I did not want people to question why I would later delete those said photos. And that is exactly what happened, my ex-boyfriend posted innocent pictures of us ice skating and then had to delete them two weeks later. I would always post us on my private story on Snapchat and even those people (who were very close to me) asked what happened. Little did they know all the fighting and the petty arguments that were happening daily but you would never guess because, on social media, everything looks so happy and innocent. Sadly, I am not the only one who has gone through this. There are plenty of couples that will post and post and then one day it is all over. With social media, there is the pressure that everything has to be perfect. For example, our relationships, our bodies, and last but not least, our lives. In today's times, it is also rare if you do not post anything about your partner. In order for all the acquaintances, family members, and some strangers to know that I am in a relationship, I chose a picture of me and my now ex-boyfriend to make as my profile picture. Though I did not post an actual picture of the two of us, people knew that I was in a relationship on my Instagram feed. In high school, my friends and I would find it weird to see that some couples would not post anything or if they posted too much. There has to be a good balance so people know that you are in a relationship. It is so easy to cheat these days because of all the apps and the advanced technology so if you have not posted on any major social media platform, people will assume that you are not dating. Dating is very frustrating for my friends and me. Normally, it takes people a while to actually start dating, or sometimes they don't even date at all. This is called talking, when you two both know you like each other and do a couple of activities, yet you do not have a label. This can be very frustrating because sometimes, one will be more invested and will wait while the other may not want to date you and wants to explore other options, but will keep you as a backup just in case something may not work out. I have an acquaintance that went out with a girl and was hoping to take her out on a second date, but she decline because she is now "seriously talking" to another male. This said woman decided to go on the date because she was just on a talking stage but she is now seriously talking to this man. The meaning of relationships has drastically changed since technology has had such a large grasp on them. It is hard to find a balance on social media but that will have to be discussed with your partner. Hopefully, in the future, our generations can learn about the true meaning of relationships.