I think it’s about time we start taking social media more seriously. As a Millennial who has built a career on writing about relationships, it’s frustrating to hear the phrase “it’s just social media. It doesn’t mean anything”

Social media is in our present, but I believe it’s significance in relationships will only get more prevalent in our future, and we will realize then how important our actions on social media actually affect them. I would like to see individuals take more responsibility on what they post, how they treat others, and their actuals in the virtual reality as well as real life experiences. Just because it’s online – it doesn’t mean your actions hurt less.

Let’s take cheating, for example. Cheating through text, snapchat, instagram, or Facebook is still cheating. Your actions aren’t justifiable just because it was online rather than real life.

I hope in the future, we can take the effects of social media more seriously and how it can affect the people who we are close to in our day to day relationships. This is especially important because everything is public – posts, likes, and relationships. Our friends, families, and even strangers are our audience. So if we hurt someone, or are hurt by someone by something posted online, it is something others can also see. It can be humiliating.

But if we are more conscious of our actions online, as we are in real life, we can make relationships so much easier.

My questions for you are:

1. Has social media affected your personal relationships negatively or positively?
2. Have you ever take any precautions on what you post because of a significant other?