Social media and the hookup culture. It’s crazy how times have changed considering only years ago, social media was barely a thing. The only popular site used was MySpace. #TBT. And that was if you were lucky to have a parent who let you have one, or they just didn’t know about it. Oops.
Recently in one of my classes, we discussed an article about relationship jealousy correlating to Facebook. Back in the day, this article would’ve never been written, well, because Facebook didn’t exist. But now, studies like this are being done and it's a reminder of how much times have changed. Society nowadays lives, eats, breathes social media; and I've come up with a few ways as to how this has impacted our hookup culture. Now, let's get down to it.
First, it's a no-brainer that social media and technology take part in our everyday lives. This impacts the hookup culture immensely. We play the "who texts who first" game, "who liked another person's selfie" game, the "who followed who" game; a lot of games goin' on. If you have a new "bae" in your life, admit it: we do some lurking. Sites such as Twitter, Instagram or Facebook have made us pro-creepers. We lurk to see who they're following, who's following them, scroll through their Instagram, etc. And don't lie..we've all scrolled down to 35 weeks ago on Instagram. Now before you say, "WTF I DON'T DO THAT JAMIE!", I'm not saying that everyone does. However, I am saying that I know a lot of people do. (And yes, I am guilty.) Why do we creep so hard? Since when have we become so nosey? Not sure. What I do know, is that these sites have turned us into mini social network detectives. It's surely become the new norm.
Second, let's talk about trust. When you see your boo thang like someone else's selfie, it can drive you up a wall. You scroll through their Twitter favorites and don't like what you see. Their Snapchat story is them with another boy or girl, UGH. After seeing such things, doubtful thoughts flood our minds. "I think that's their ex!" or "OMG, who is that? They must be talking!" We panic, worry and automatically assume the worst. Some people are better at handling it than others. And sure, there have been times where social media has caught disloyal people in the act. But whatever happened to trust? It's hard to find these days. Social media has made it difficult to have faith in others. We've let pictures, videos and posts alter our trust.
Last but never least: communication. Back then, face to face was the best way to communicate. Personally, I still think it is. However, it's 2016 and confrontation has never been harder. We hide behind computer and phone screens, sharing our thoughts via texts. We're scared to tell others how we feel, in fear of them thinking we're "weird" or "crazy". So we resort to hiding behind messaging. Years ago, they didn't have texts or chats. Face to face was the way to go. Sometimes, I wish that this generation wasn't so afraid to talk in person. That people weren't so scared to talk about their feelings. After all, we are all human.
Just a little disclaimer: I’m not dissing social media or this generation's hookup culture. I am simply stating how times have changed & how social sites have impacted today's relationships. I wish we could go back to when social media didn't modify the way you perceived someone. When it didn't alter your trust and communication. It just causes too much drama fo' yo mama. Maybe in a few years it'll be better or worse. But for now, we'll just keep scrolling.
