North Texas Daily

Social media can serve as a proper gateway to various opportunities. Those opportunities can range from jobs to raising awareness on social issues. Social media also can provide the opportunity to find and portray love.

Just as one network has benefits, it also possesses setbacks. Social media has limitations that lead to misconceptions and false assumptions about love and relationships. Social media can misconstrue love and relationships due to the creation of false ideals, unrealistic standards and discouragement/stereotypes.

False ideals lead to the downfalls of love and relationships within the 21st century due to the portrayals of it on social media. Audiences see pictures and videos showing the positive side of love and relationships. The glitz and the glam overshadows the premise that love and relationships are more than showing affection to their significant others.

Rather, love and relationships involve various ideals and tasks, such as commitment, proper communication and trust. Those tasks are not always easy to fulfill and social media can portray these tasks as easy or unimportant which can generate unrealistic standards.

For example, a social media user can look at a couple’s Instagram page and automatically believe that the duo upholds particular relationship standards like only upholding a positive image when that might not always be the case.

However, this does not show the true nature of a relationship. Rather, it is perpetrating the one-sided bias of love and relationships. For a couple to show only the positive times, it can demonstrate a false narrative and push observants to want and wish for the same “relationship goals.” Meanwhile, some of the observants are not aware of the true and realistic efforts behind the couple maintaining their relationship which can generate unrealistic standards.

It is not fair for every being to be grouped into one category just because a couple people have created upsets and disappointments within a relationship or during the dating process. Stereotypes are then used within the dating scene, causing setbacks and challenges within a relationship. However, one can choose to either allow the stereotypes to consume their thoughts and influence their relationships and/or dating life, or to keep an open-mind and remember that each and every person is different.

Even though social media has its positive characteristics, it does not fulfill the true role of showing the realities of love and relationships. Plus, some of the observants of couples may not differentiate between reality and imaginary and formulate their own set of expectations on how love and relationship is “supposed to be.”

However, if one partnership is toxic, does that equate to it being beneficial to be in that form of relationship? It is realistic to have arguments within a relationship, but it is unrealistic to believe that each partnership will be strictly flawless. If some people choose to use social media to find love, the best solution is for them to be upfront and honest about their intentions.

Social media has its positives, but one thing is for certain: Social media negatively influences love and relationships by causing distractions from reality.

Featured Illustration: Ryan Gossett