Social media dating rules are there to help your relationship survive, to help you both be happy and to avoid the many pitfalls that can send ripples of discord between the two of you. Social media is such a part of our lives that we do have to pay attention to how we use it affects our partners. Social media dating rules are just dating etiquette for the digital age. If you want to ensure social media is a happy area of your relationship, enhancing it rather than it causing bones of contention, here are the dating rules to remember.
1 Dates Are No Phone Zones
For the sake of your relationship and the for the sake of your Facebook friends, don’t take your phones out on dates just to check into locations and take romantic selfies! We know you’re together, we’ve already seen your pictures. Just leave your dates for the two of you and refrain from posting every five minutes!
Frequently asked questions
2 Set an Unplug Time
When you are in a new relationship, it can often by very tempting to text and message all through the night, but for the sake of your sleeping schedule and your daily sanity, you should settle on a time in the evening where all communication ends and you can unwind without technology!
3 Get Picture Permission
Lots of photos get taken by boyfriends and girlfriends in relationships, sometimes cute candid ones that one or the other doesn’t know about. Though these photos can be nice, you should always get the permission of your partner before posting anything online, just so that everything is above board and consensual.
4 Unfollow Exes!
For the health of your new relationship, it’s always a good idea to unfollow all of the accounts that belong to your most recent ex, or perhaps even all of them if that is what is going to make your new partner happy. Scrolling through old pictures of you together and new ones where you are apart can lead to unhealthy dynamics!
5 Absolutely No Liking Too!
Even if you are on good terms with you ex and don’t want to unfollow them, under no circumstances should you like any of their new selfies or even group photos. It will alert your new love to the fact that you have been looking in the first place! If you are on good terms with an ex, you should also mention this to your new partner and allay any fears right from the onset that there is nothing to be jealous of – then this is backed up by you not having any social media interaction with your ex.
6 No Cryptic Posts
We’ve all seen them, those vague, cryptic posts about love and relationships that people post which are clearly a veiled message to their partner. The thing is, they are never as cryptic as the author thinks, so don’t get yourself in to trouble to by joining in with the trend!
7 Discuss Changing Your Relationship Status First
There is nothing more awkward than changing your status to ‘in a relationship’ and then seeing the other person resist. Before you take the plunge and start online gossip, have a talk about whether you are both ready to take that social media step.
8 Don’t Be a Detective
If you see your partner having a lengthy chat thread interaction with someone else, try not to immediately become a police detective and investigate every little detail. In all likelihood, it will probably come up in conversation between the two of you at a later time!
9 Keep Messages Private
If you have something personal to say, don’t spread it around public walls and feeds. Keep the private talk to private messages and it will save you potential future embarrassment if your interactions don’t go the way that you had perhaps planned.
10 Don’t Create a Couple’s Hashtag
Sharing pictures of your partner is more than enough. You really don’t have to that extra mile by creating a couple’s hashtag. Honestly, the couple involved are the only ones who think it’s cute; it just comes across as rather cringe worthy to everyone else!
Don’t let social media intrude on your relationship. It should be a happy aspect, not one that you end up fighting over or one that causes contention for you both.
