Social Media can have positive and negative effects on a relationship.

I was a guest on Good Company. The topic: The Effects of Social Media on Relationships.

Social media can have positive and negative effects on a relationship. Based on what purpose it’s used for and how often it is used determines whether the effects are useful or detrimental.

Here are some positive effects:

CONNECTION – social media can be a wonderful way for a couple to stay connected with children, extended family, and friends, especially if they are looking at it together, or keeping each other in the loop on what they’ve discovered.

RESEARCH – social media can be used as a tool to research information having to do with hobbies (joint or individual), places to travel together, or job-related information on LinkedIn, for example.

Here are the negative effects:

TIME – if not used properly or in a balanced way, social media can be a time-sucking machine. The intention of looking up one thing/person can turn into many minutes or sometimes hours on a device, which can interfere with time with a mate or their children. I have heard from more mates than I can keep track of that social media has put a wedge between them. Devices get brought into restaurants during dates, at the dinner table at home, and in the bedroom. How do you spell RESENTMENT?

BOUNDARIES – a relationship can become traumatized when one or both partners don’t set boundaries around people with whom they connect on social media. Facebook is a big one for this. Before a person knows it, he/she is spending time talking with a former boyfriend or girlfriend or former high school or college buddy. It starts out innocently enough, but if the primary relationship is shaky, the SM relationship can become a potential problem.

As with most things in life, balance and transparency are the keys. Stay aware of how much time you are on social media and with whom you’re connecting. If you look up from your device and you’ve been on it at the expense of an important relationship or if you feel like you’re hiding something from your partner, pay attention to that before it becomes an embedded habit.