In today’s generation, social media seems to control people and their relationships. Children and adults spend most of their time on social media instead of communicating with others face to face. This tends to start conflict, lack of trust, communication problems, and fear in one’s significant other.

Most of the time in a relationship, people tend to experience jealousy or worry when it comes to the person they care for. Because people do not ask their partners  important questions, they often end up jumping to conclusions.

“With social media, other people often critique a person’s relationship, and instead of it being focused on just the two people in the relationship, it’s like having eight more people in the relationship besides just you two.” junior Autaria Morgan said.

Social media networks such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat give people the opportunity to take a deeper look into others’ personal life because everything becomes visible once posted online, such as a relationship status.

“Say you post your boyfriend more than once on your social media, then all of a sudden someone looks on your page and they’re (the photos) all gone and then they’re like ‘Oh, they obviously broke up’ and start to assume things,” senior Maya Diggs said.

Social media can affect the health of a friendship as well, especially when it comes to friendships and the heartbreak following the loss of a friend. Females often post on social media platforms such as Snapchat when they feel upset or hurt. These types of posts can unintentionally cause an excessive amount of problems with not only the person who posted the image, but other people as well.  

“Things can get translated wrong (with social media), so if you say or post something, someone can just screenshot it and make it seem like you were calling someone out,” junior Allie Mozingo said.

Time and time again, females and males talk about one another and their disagreements without actually confessing their feelings to the person causing the conflict.

“I’ve often got pulled into arguments between my friends on social media that were very public and because of that, it’s costed me a couple friendships,” senior Matthew Holland said.

People do not like to see or hear negative words being spoken against them, especially when it comes from someone they once abided in, such as a best friend, or a friend they once trusted. If people would begin to open up and express themselves with one another instead of talking negatively about each other; stronger friendships would start to prosper. Communication plays a vital role in maintaining a friendship. If friends fail to communicate, their friendship will not last. Communicating face to face rather than through the phone or using social media becomes more intimate and real.

Social media platforms not only affect relationships, they affect how people view themselves as well. The world already judges people based on their actions and appearances. The media tends to criticize almost everything, especially when it comes to how women should look. TV programs, magazines, Instagram, and Twitter portray certain aspects of women, such as appearing fit and beautiful to looking presentable to people around them. The press gives people like the Kardashians a wide platform to say and do whatever they feel. Because of how these celebrities look, most people feel the need that they should mimic these stars. But in reality, women should just love themselves and not feel the need to change for someone or conform to a standard for people to value and appreciate them.

Self value can start off as simple as speaking positively about oneself everyday, and staying away from those who speak otherwise. Doing this can help build self confidence, rather than cause constant esteem degradation. However, the press, usually more common in magazines, use photoshop to make celebrities’ photographs look more presentable. Although people should know their quality and feel comfortable in their own body, most do not feel this way because of the amount of judgment in the world. And with social media, the biggest platform of the century constantly degrading men and women, making people judge others based on how they look. Numerous celebrities speak out against  photoshopping, saying, in reality, they do not actually look like that and they feel comfortable in their own body. “Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found out my 19 year old hips and torso quite manipulated. These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Anyone who i am knows i stand for honest and pure self love” Zendaya Coleman said in an Instagram post.

People should think before they post, especially on social media and work to lift people up instead of bringing them down.