Social Media. The prowess of influence. The activist of opinions. The thief of privacy. The misleader of reality. Can we really trust what we see or hear about?
Take the most recent example that has hit the world by surprise:
YANNY v. LAUREL
Of course you've probably seen and heard this video already, and have had crazy debates and arguments with your friends about it. But in case you haven't, the video below is for your listening pleasures.
This went viral in days - if not hours - worldwide. This took me by surprise, I was hearing #Laurel but I read online that some people were hearing #Yanny, which made me think a few things. First, were people editing the video somehow and changing the audio? Second, were they just saying they heard Yanny to start controversy? The true explanation is posted here, but even with that I began to doubt everything I had seen. I didn't know who to believe, what to believe, or if my mind was tricking me (could I even believe myself?).
I'll admit, this example is a bit dramatic. But what about other posts that make us question our beliefs or make us doubt what's out there? What else can't we trust?
Let's start with the most popular of the kind: relationship posts. We see them on our friend's Facebook profiles, celebrity's Instagram pages, people's tweets, etc. But what do you really see? Do you see them upset and crying? Arguing and disputing? Or do you see them happy? In love? All over each other? I'm going to guess you said, "they seem really happy and are total #couplegoals!" Well that's because all you see is the happy times that they have, and take it from me, relationships are NOT all happy times.
No relationship is 100% happy
The important thing I want you to take away from this, is asking yourself how these kinds of posts affect your relationships.
I've seen both guys and girls like posts such as the ones belonging to @couplesofsociety on Instagram, which say "kissing a girl on the forehead is a sign of respect" or "date a boy who gets distracted by other dogs, not other girls." Fair enough though, to some people these might be important things. What about the other side though? What if someone never thought twice about forehead kisses, and now they might think to themselves "he's not kissing me on the forehead... does that mean he doesn't respect me?"
DO YOU SEE WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET AT HERE?
Ahem, sorry... didn't mean to get excited.
But do you see what I'm trying to say here?
Because we see posts that show happiness, affection, what they think love is supposed to be, how they think relationships are supposed to go, that makes us think sometimes that maybe we aren't doing the right things.
It makes us doubt ourselves. Our partners. Our ideas of what constitutes right vs. wrong.
If your having relationship difficulties, I suggest following self-help books rather than taking influences from what social media shows or says. Not only will it help you figure out what YOU like, but it will help ease your mind about your relationship and realize what you need and like when in one.
Sometimes it's okay to be selfish.
Challenge of The Day
Go one day without letting social media influence your opinions in your relationship. Talk to your partner about what you like and don't like, and see what happens from there.
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