What your social media posts actually say about your relationship
IT has been said by online sages that nobody cheats more than a man who posts his woman on social media all the time — the men with the sweetest love quotes and hundreds of Instagram posts depicting #familyvalues and #wifeyforlife are the best at leading double lives. It’s a clear deflection tactic, says counsellor David Anderson — if the world thinks the marriage is happy, they’ll ignore any suspicious movement or activities on the man’s part.
The same goes for other people who post about their lives and relationships on social media — the platform built for sharing special moments in your life with your friends.
“Various studies have shown that people lie on Facebook; I remember one a couple years ago that showed a high percentage of Facebook users who post images to make it look like they were more adventurous than they actually are,” Anderson said.
“Other people post pictures of their lives and possessions purely to make their friends and family jealous, and others want the picnic life their friends seem to have, so they invent perfect life stories of their own, even though their actual lives are nothing like that.”
Anderson said psychology can help users depict what is actually going in a relationship based on posts — it involves looking below the surface to find the truth.
So what do your social media posts actually say about your relationship?
“Posts inadvertently tell the truth about what is really happening in the relationship,” warned counselling expert Violet Brown.
So:
Post: A photo of you and your partner cuddling
Brown said this can be a warning to other women telling them to back off and to not attempt to be a side chick as the man is happy where he is.
Post: A person is in a relationship but posts a photo captioned ‘feeling lonely’ or ‘wish someone was here to keep my company’
Brown said this could mean that the relationship is on the rocks and the person is available to any secret admirer.
Post: Numerous photos every day of the couple kissing or cuddling
It causes others to wonder if this relationship is genuinely healthy, or if the person is just putting on a show, Brown said.
Post: Taking videos and photos on your date
Posting things while you are out means that your online image is more important than the actual relationship. You are more interested in letting everyone know you are out, rather than enjoying the moment with your partner.
Post: Love quotes/memes
This implies that you are grateful for being blessed with such a wonderful partner. It could also mean that you are sending a message to your partner or to a potential or lost partner about the state of your emotions, Anderson said.
Post: Single photos of your partner
This implies that your world revolves around him/her.
Post: Bombarding your pages with snapshots of romantic dates and intimate moments
This could mean that you are trying to make other people jealous. “Most times things are not as they seem, and it’s an attempt to prove, or to convince even yourself that everything is OK, even when it isn’t,” Anderson said.
