It was a picture-worthy moment. She snapped a pic and promptly posted it to Instagram with the words, “My love! #alwaysandforever #makesmehappy”
Then the unexpected happened. Her “love” turned to her and said, “Did you post that?” Enthusiastically, she said “Yes!” He said, “You didn’t even ask.” A bit puzzled, she said, “It’s a great picture of you. What’s the problem?” The problem was, he didn’t want his picture posted on social media.
What seemed like an innocent post was suddenly creating angst in their relationship.
Interestingly, this couple’s experience with social media isn’t uncommon. In plenty of relationships, one spouse uses social media as a way to express themselves and their political views, and they love sharing about life in general while their partner is really limited with what they post for the world to see. Maybe they aren’t on social media at all, and they wrestle with their spouse being so out there.
Social media has so many positives. It allows you to stay in touch with people you might not otherwise see or hear from. It has saved the lives of countless missing children because of people sharing information quickly, and in the midst of being quarantined, couples have been able to attend live date nights and do other fun things together. But there are also the potential potholes and even sinkholes you can fall into that are difficult to climb out of and can have a real negative effect on your marriage.