Intimate Relationships and Social Media Use
Dating and the way that we experience romantic relationships has drastically changed since the digital age emerged. The need for instant gratification has taken a toll on our lives which while convenient, isn’t always a good thing. I researched the trends between social media use and intimate relationships. It appears, judging from the graph, that there are less intimate relationships as social media use rises.
This finding could result from several things. One negative effect that using social media has on romantic relationships is that partners can feel suffocated or loose their independence if their partner is reaching out to them too frequently. Successful relationships are composed of two people sharing two separate lives. However, in the digital age, it is so easy to access the other person that we may not even realize the destruction we are causing. Another example of why as social media use increases that intimate relationships decrease is social media creates an environment that always leaves the door open for someone else. It creates a sense of jealousy and fosters the idea that one shouldn’t settle down with one person when they can have the ability to flirt with anyone at any time.
This correlation has been studied from some time now and researchers are consistently finding that as social media rises, romantic relationships have decreased.