Source: Shutterstock
All is fair in love and social media. The secretive DMs, the Facebook posts, the Instagram likes, social media is a breeding ground for some of the major downfalls in today’s relationships. Snoop around and you might come across your new boo’s profile pages, doing shots with his ex-girlfriend on Instagram or maybe giving some girl the wink emoji on Twitter. It can make you start questioning your relationship. But don’t let it come between you and your man. Here are a few do’s and don’ts of social media when in a new relationship.
Shutterstock
Don’t add all of their friends
Just because you are in a new relationship doesn’t mean you need to know every single friend your boo has on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Don’t go on an adding spree after changing your status to ‘in a relationship.’ Adding his friends won’t give you every single detail you need to know about his past or present.
shutterstock.com
Don’t stalk their social media profiles
For the sake of your sanity and theirs, try to stay off their pages and profiles. Or at least limit yourself. You might find something you don’t necessarily want to find. Some take social media with a grain of salt, some don’t, which is why you should be careful about taking their interactions on the web solely to heart.
Yuri Arcurs /shutterstock
Do keep it light
If you are interacting in your relationship using social media, keep it fun and light. Don’t be the overbearing, controlling girlfriend who comments on every single status, retweets every post and writes on their Facebook wall multiple times a day. Keep it light and casual and interact playfully.
Shutterstock
Don’t comment on every single post
Going hand-in-hand with stalking, resist the urge to comment on every single post, tweet and comment on your boo’s profiles. You don’t need to make yourself or your input known every time he posts.
Shutterstock
Don’t substitute one-on-one interaction with social media
Unless you are in a long distance relationship, met your boo online or on an episode of MTV’s Catfish, don’t forget one-on-one interaction in your relationship. Social media should not substitute sharing real-life memories in-person or getting close and personal with the one you love. Instead of sending a life on Candy Crush or flowers over Facebook, sign off and be present in your relationship in real life.
Source: Shutterstock
Do keep your profiles professional
We all have a professional reputation and brand to uphold, so be mindful about changing up your profiles when getting a relationship. Your LinkedIn members do not need to know about the last date you and your boo went on or that you are happily in love. Professional profiles like LinkedIn are to stay strictly professional. The same goes for a more social site, Facebook. Although Facebook seems like the place to let some of your personality show, be mindful of any new pictures that could be a red flag for unprofessionalism to a potential employer.
Shutterstock
Don’t exchange passwords
One of the major mistakes “trusting” couples make is giving each other the passwords to their accounts. Granted, you want to be able to trust your new man, but things could go from just being cautious to being downright nosy, where you start to snoop and find old messages and DMs that are not so “relationship appropriate.” Don’t make the mistake of exchanging passwords unless you are completely and totally comfortable letting someone else take the reigns of your social media profile.
Shutterstock
Don’t use social media to air your dirty laundry
Leave the dirty details of your relationship in the home, not on the web. Too many couples use their social media profiles to vent their frustrations, which is a shot in the foot to your relationship and ammo to the opposite sex. Keep personal business off of the statuses and tweets.
Shutterstock
Don’t try to erase the past
Trying to clean up your social media footprint before making the next step in your relationship is like cleaning up a spill on a carpet: it can be cleaned, but will leave a stain or a trace. Deleting every single tweet and post and photo that you don’t want your new boo to see might catch up with you. And then it will raise antennas about what you have to hide.
