10 Ways That Social Media Has Changed Dating.

Seventeen-year-old Kane Zipperman recently found out his girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend. His girlfriend attempted to win him back (via text message. . . how romantic?), but Zipperman used a series of hilarious memes to tell her off. Kipperman tweeted screenshots of their conversation that have since gone viral. He has been featured on a number of blogs and interviewed by CNN.
his is just one of many examples that demonstrate how social media has completely altered the way people date, communicate, and break up.
While adding transparency between couples, sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Lulu have also been the source of unnecessary jealousy, confusion, and conflict. With that in mind, has social media changed the world of dating for better. . . or worse?

1.) Some Dating Apps Spread Misinformation
Apps like Lulu are basically public forums for dating resumes. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the information you find on these sites could be biased. You may be receiving false or skewed information about a person before you even meet them!
Anyone using Lulu should remember that the people who are most motivated to write a review are the ones who’ve had a negative experience. Think about the Yelp reviews you’ve written. Were you gushing over something great, or publicly venting over something that upset you? Most people are only driven to give feedback when they’re angry, so take what you read on sites like Lulu with a grain of salt.

2.) Facilitates Easy Contact With Others
The fear of asking someone out or approaching a person you don’t know is gone. Now with just a few clicks of the mouse, you can easily strike up a conversation with anyone in the world. But is this hit-and-run style of communicating a good thing?
Some claim that social media has made contact too easy. Easy contact between millions of potential dates may lead to “serial dating.” Rather than putting effort into one or two relationships, social media can cause people to only seek out superficial interactions.

3.) People Can Misrepresent Themselves
Dsiguises
People can perfectly script their words online. Someone may be a modern day Shakespeare on the keyboard, but falls apart during face-to-face interactions.
How someone portrays themselves online could greatly differ from the person they are in real life. Self-reported personal information can sometimes be unreliable, so keep that in mind when connecting with people over the Internet.

4.) Lack of Paralingual Cues
It’s usually easy to tell if someone is interested in you when you’re right in front of them. You can read the tone in their voice, their body language, and gauge their interest.

But when you’re sitting in front of a computer screen, you can’t rely on paralingual cues like body language for information. Messages, status updates, pictures, and emoticons can often be misunderstood, causing unintentional confusion or even conflict.

5.) Forces You to Have the “What Are We” Convo

Social networks ask you to define your “relationship status,” and as a result, new couples are forced to put a label on their relationship before they’re ready. Rushing into these decisions can ultimately hurt your partnership.

Even more scary, what if you change your relationship status and the other person doesn’t? Now you have an awkward situation on your hands when it really doesn’t need to be so complicated.

6.) Creates Jealousy
“Why do you always like her pictures?” or “Why are you always retweeting that guy?” Social media sites make it easy for couples over analyze each other’s actions and interactions with other people.
Irresponsible use of the “like,” the “retweet,” and the “favorite,” functions have become the cardinal sins of dating. Sometimes social media can create added drama.

7.) Too Many TMI Opportunities
After an argument or a long, frustrating day, you may want to vent to your social network online. While it’s tempting to share your sour feelings with the Internet, you should show some restraint—it could do damage to your relationship.

An irate status, comment, or message could easily be taken the wrong way. You could inadvertently offend the person you’re dating, and once you’ve posted something, it’s there forever. Even deleting your messages, status updates, or comments will not permanently erase them. Once something gets posted online, everyone will see it.

8.) Nothing Is Private
Public versus Private
Some aspects of a relationship, (like Kane Zipperman’s conversation with his girlfriend) probably don’t belong online. The girlfriend thought they were having a private conversation, but the response he’d get from broadcasting the conversation on social media proved too tempting for Zipperman.
Couples don’t need to advertise their relationship, or let outsiders know what’s going on between them. This information is usually shared with close friends or family, but social media allows everyone to have eyes on your relationship. Which leads us to our next point. . .

9.) Everyone And Their Mom Gets Involved
Since your entire social network has a front row seat to your relationship, everyone feels the need to be involved in it.
All of your friends are now mutual friends with your partner. There’s no avoiding it, unless you stop going online. Get ready for an onslaught of unsolicited relationship advice from people you hardly know.

10.) It’s Hard To Forget
Social media allows you to have constant contact with the person you’re dating. You see almost everything they think and do each time you log on.
For this reason, nothing makes a break up harder than social media. Since your networks are intertwined, it’s almost impossible to avoid constantly seeing this person online.
Their status updates, pictures, and friends constantly remind you of the relationship, making it harder for you to move on. You’re probably tagged in multiple pictures together, and now have an online scrapbook of your relationship thanks to Facebook’s timeline.

How To Prevent Social Media From Ruining Your Dating Life

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are supposed to be fun! So here’s how to avoid some of the pitfalls that social media can create in your relationship.

1.) Communicate Properly
talk Face-to-face and verbal interaction is vital for any relationship, if you have something serious to talk about, avoid the direct message. It will be worthwhile to hear the person’s voice so you can understand their tone and their body language.

2.) Avoid Oversharing
Don’t vent on social media. Call a friend or talk to a family member. Venting on social media is bound to make someone angry. Besides, you’re better off not having a permanent record of your rants anyways.

3.) Don’t Take it Too Seriously
Remember, it’s social media. Although it’s taking over the Internet and becoming an integral part of our lives, social media should remain lighthearted and fun. Allowing it to make you jealous, angry, or sad shows that social media may have too much control over you. Let it be fun!