FRISKY FRIDAY FACEBOOK FEEL-OUT: Should You Post about Your Relationship on Social Media – or Not?

If you want your relationship to thrive, should you post about it on social media, or not?

Shotkit, a virtual community of photographers, has polled more than 2,000 people who are currently in  relationships.  They found that just 10-percent (one-in-ten) of those who post images of themselves and their partners, describe their relationships as “very happy.”

But almost half (46-percent), who say they do NOT publish such posts, evaluate their relationships as “very happy.“

What if you NEVER post?  It gets even better.  Nearly 75-percent (7 or 8 out of 10) of respondents, who defined their relationship as either “very happy” or “happy,” say that they “never” post couples content.

On the other hand:  Of those who regularly share online, over 4 out of 10 – almost half (42-percent) say their relationship is “very unhappy.”  And venting about a partner, online, can be a relationship nuke.

Licensed marriage and family therapist, Jessica Small (who was not part of the survey) says, “Posts on social media can create unrealistic expectations for partners or lead them to feel that their partner is only interested in sharing how great the relationship is if it’s on public display. When this happens, intimacy becomes lost and it decreases emotional safety.”

Small adds that another huge drawback of social media is that it “takes people out of the here and now;” and that “couples who feel satisfied in their relationship tend to put down their devices, and spend time focused (on) and present with one another.”