8 Rules To Prevent Facebook From Ruining Your Relationship

By Zynnyme Kelly Higdon & Miranda Palmer

Before you read on, you should know I love and I loathe Facebook. I use Facebook for personal and business reasons. It has replaced email for me in a lot of ways and it is a great avenue to showcase pictures of the family to relatives that are far away. But, it is also a cause of a lot of relationship issues that I see in my office.

From cheating online to lamenting over a break up that has moved on — I hear about how Facebook has supposedly ruined their marriage or their dating relationship. But guess what? Facebook didn’t do anything. The responsibility here lies on the people involved … not the technology. Here are some quick tips for you to remember on how to keep your relationship offline and healthy. It all starts with boundaries.

1. Don’t fight. This is awkward. Really. When I see two friends go at each other, even if it is short sarcastic remarks, you can still get a sense that there is more to it than just joking. Not fighting on your Facebook page isn’t just about keeping others from feeling uncomfortable. That is secondary to the most important issue — that it isn’t fair fighting.

Fighting online may feel safer, but that is because you aren’t forced to look at each other or to be vulnerable. It is a way to avoid the intensity. Avoidance doesn’t resolve the issue. What I don’t see after my friends fight online is the fight that occurs at home and then the resolution to the fight. I am left wondering, “Are they getting along now?” “Should I say something?”

2. Nice pictures please. The risqué photos of your partner and the comments about how awesome she was in bed last night — another thing that nobody wants to see. Be aware of how you are portraying your relationship to the world. People can copy and save your pictures from Facebook with ease.

Do you want that picture shared with everyone, including your mother? Intimacy is an important part of any relationship. Having fun with your intimacy is also important. However, sharing the intimate details of your relationship has the opposite effect and can leave a lasting impression on others.

3. Watch your tagging. You know when you go to a party and tag who you are with? Respect if your partner wants to be tagged or not. We all have different values of privacy, so check with your partner and see if it is okay with them first.

Maybe you are dating but haven’t shared it to everyone yet. That’s cool, but don’t tag each other in everything you are doing if you want to keep it private.

4. Relationship Status Updates. If you don’t want to be asked about your relationship, stop putting the status on your profile. You don’t even have to fill that out. I once saw a couple, married, break up and get back together and then go to “its complicated” several times over the course of a few months.

I asked one of the people about the status and their response was, “Oh I don’t want to talk about it.” Really?You don’t want to talk about it but you want everyone to see it? Sometimes people put this on their profile as a way to dig at their partner (see the above on not fighting).

5. Flirt offline. It can be fun to flirt on your partners’ profile, but don’t let it stop there! It is even more meaningful and lasting to have fun in person, to show love and affection, instead of just in the virtual world where you are safe and it is harder to feel rejected.

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