Austin, TX – Social media is booming thanks to smartphone apps and laptop users. People on the go can stay plugged in to what’s happening minute by minute through social status updates and tweets. Because of that connectivity there are growing concerns focused on social addiction and how it affects relationships. No matter if it’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram interactions, people seem to be focusing more of their time online and less of their time on personal real-world conversations.
Yvonne Nava of KVUE News writes:
“According to AllTwitter, which monitors all social media, 100,000 tweets are sent out every minute, nearly three quarters of a million pieces of content are shared on Facebook, and more than 3,500 photos are posted on Instagram.”
Statistics point toward the use of social media putting strains on couples’ relationships. However, accusing social media for affecting relationships negatively doesn’t always make sense.
Brad Bogus, president of Speak Social, a social media marketing company in Austin, says cheaters are going to cheat with or without Facebook.
Lawyers are using social media as a medium to gather or share evidence during divorce cases, child custody cases, as well as a multitude of other cases. This includes criminal and murder trials, according to the George Zimmerman case featured on Lawyers.com:
“Social media has given defense lawyers a whole new way to try to sway public opinion in their clients’ favor — all in the hopes that when it comes time to select a jury, potential jurors will have had a good look at the defense’s side of things.”
Given the public nature of social media it’s interesting how much information people, including couples in committed relationships, post about their private lives. Unless proper privacy controls are in place, which of course does not always protect every status update, social addiction could lead to negative influences on relationships. This is especially true if this information is copied and shared by others.
There are ways of striking a positive balance and preventing social media from coming between relationships. The fact that it is a distraction, especially when notifications ping on cell phones throughout the day, but that doesn’t mean social media is negative. Couples can commit to unplugging for a period of time so they can reconnect with each other.
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