Social Media and its effects on Romantic Relationships

Author: Syera Weah

Abstract
As Facebook and other Social Network Sites (SNS) increases in subscribers, young
adults are discovering new ways to display and destroy their love lives on these sites. Continuous
studies shows that little is known about the linkage between the online and offline world. I
extended my research of previous research by investigating the effects that the use of social
network sites plays on romantic relationships. A five survey questionnaire was developed. The
results highlights the possibility that young adults who display their relationship on social network
sites also believes that the use of social network sites has an effect on ones relationship growth.
The results have implications that Social Network Sites alone does display a negative effect on
relationships.
Introduction:

It is in our nature to love and want to be loved. We dream of one day bumping into
someone who will accept us for our imperfections and consume us with unconditional love.
Many adults have turned to social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter and Dating sites, to
pursue their search for this love. The introduction of Social Network Sites such as Facebook
and Twitter, may be adding to the complexity of romantic relationships (Rachel E. Ephinsiton).
These sites allow its users to personalize their profiles, upload photos, create posts and
communicate with whomever they wish. These posts can range from couple photos, anniversary
notes, relationship complications, dramatic posts, to break ups. With social media being easy to
use, many couples have begun to display their relationship to the public and displayed some form
of psychological addiction to Facebook. According to Wilson and Couch D, the reinforcing
aspects of SNS can promote addictive tendencies because of the interactive nature of this form of

communication. Trends in research show that individuals in a relationship who spends most of
their time on Facebook increase their chances of engaging in stalking behavior towards their
romantic partner. This behavior may result to jealousy. The growing use of social media sites by
relationship partners may negatively affect romantic relationships by inducing individuals into
stalking behaviors that may result to jealousy and a desire for relationship security.
Stalking behaviors on social network sites, may involve constantly viewing a person's
profile, posts, pictures and keeping up with current events in their lives. In a study of 209
participants, 50.9 percent revealed that they have participated in cyber obsessive behavior that
resulted in young adults feeling jealous over what they viewed on their partners page (Amy
Lyndon).
This study is supported by the findings from the article, Time to Face It! Facebook
Intrusion and the Implications for Romantic Jealousy and Relationship Satisfaction. In the
article, Elphinston and Noeller studied the complexity of romantic relationships in relation to
Facebook. They conducted an eight question questionnaire and surveyed 342 undergraduate
students from an Australian University. They sought to discover the potential of Facebook
intrusion spilling over to increase jealousy in romantic relationships. They discovered that the
more time an individual spent on Facebook increases the likelihood of feeling threaten by a third
party in regards to their relationship. This behavior led to Facebook attachment as individual
sought to ensure that their significant partner was not communicating intimately with a third
party. These individuals became emotionally and physically attached to their partners Facebook
page by posting on their timelines to eliminate the third part as competition. This study
provides the knowledge that one should not allow the use of Facebook to dominate their
relationship.

Another insight on this concept is the view of Amy Muise. In the article, Does Facebook
Bring out the Green-Eyed Monster of Jealousy? She informs that the Exposure to information
about a romantic partners friends and social interactions may result in an environment that
enhances jealousy. This article revealed that individuals in a relationship are likely to become
affected by a post made by their partners friend. As individuals yearn for relationship security,
they are eager to discover lies, and information concerning their partner. (Coyne, S.M,
&Merkle, E.R) These finding entices further Facebook usage and create drama among
relationship partners and a third party. To decrease this, individuals should inform their friends
of their relationship status so they are not caught in the mix of sharing flirtatious posts, pictures
or past secrets that may be detrimental to the survival of their current relationship.
In support of stalking behavior that may lead to jealousy stems an internal issue; low selfesteem. In a study by Utz and Beukeboom, they aimed to show that individuals who
demonstrated lower self-esteem had a desire to obtain popularity on Facebook in order to feel
content in their relationship. These individuals encouraged the idea of their romantic partner
posting pictures of them or posts concerning their relationship (Don J.E).This gave them a sense
of value and appreciation.
As social media sites, such as Facebook dominates relationships, individuals seek to find
relationship security and satisfaction with their romantic partner. Continual studies aims at
uncovering how relationships are being destroyed by SNS. Some topic of interest includes the
study of Social Media and its effects on the following: jealousy, cyber-possessive behavior,
relationship happiness and online dating.
In my opinion, I believe that the use of social media sites have a negative effect on
romantic relationship through the means of jealousy, and stalking behavior. Individuals in a

relationship need to determine what is meant to be shared and what is meant to be kept private
.Distinguishing between the two will help save relationships that are heading downhill due
Facebook.(Larry R.)
To continue discoveries of Social Media and Relationships, I aimed to extend existing
research by exploring young adults involvement with Facebook and how their involvement has
effected their romantic relationships. I expect that young adults relationships will become
negatively affected by Facebook due to the freedom of posting photos, texts and videos that may
serve as a reflection of how one sees their relationship or their partner. These post may stem the
thought of jealousy and stalking behavior from a romantic partner.

Methods:
Participants
A total of 20 undergraduates students from Saint Cloud State University volunteered
from a Digital Media class as my participant pool. Between 70 and 75 percent of participants
displayed their relationship status on Facebook. This status ranged from: In a Relationship, Its
complicated, Single, Married, or Divorced. All participants completed a five question survey
questionnaire. Their ages were between 18 and 21, with a mean of 19.5. Most participants in this
survey have held previous relationship which was displayed mostly on Facebook. Their current
status of their relationship is unknown to me.
Measures:
Participants were asked to volunteer to complete a five question survey questionnaire that
took two minutes. The questions measured young adults involvement with Social Network Sites
and how their involvement links to the growth of their relationship.

Survey Questions and Results

Question One: Have you ever displayed your relationship on any social media site?
Results: Yes-15 (75%) No-5 (25%)
Evaluation: The results shows a dramatic difference between the amounts of individuals that
displayed their relationship on a social media site versus those who chose not to. This results can
stem from the rising increase of subscribers on Facebook and other SNS. Individuals may choose
to display their relationship status on a Social Media sites to show their friends and family that
their relationship is serious, hence it is Facebook Official.
Question Two: Do you think social media plays a role on relationship growth?
Results: Yes-13(65%) No-7(35%)
Evaluation: Sixty-five percent of young adults asserted that social media plays a role on
relationship growth while 35 percent objected the idea. Those young adults who answered yes to
this question also answered yes to question number one. This shows a linkage between the two
questions. It can be perceived that in order for one to believe that social media plays a role on
relationship one must have first-hand experience by displaying their relationship status on
Facebook.
Question Three: How often do/did you post about your relationship on social media?
Results: Never 6 (30%); Sometimes-9(45%); Often-4 (20%); Always-0 (0%)
Evaluations: The results suggest that most young adults who uses SNS post once or twice a
month about their relationship. These numbers reveals that young adults have decided not to
engage in revealing information concerning their relationship. This results may indicate that with
the expansion of Facebook, young adults may want to keep personal information private.
Sometimes these individuals may have aunts and older family members as friends on their
Facebook and may deem it inappropriate to post about personal life. Another explanation for the
difference in number may be due to the fact that employers are turning to social media sites to
source ideal candidate for a job position. It could be that young adults want to portray a positive
image of themselves without posting about their personal life which may lead to employer
eliminate them as an ideal candidate from the hiring process.

Question Four: Which form of social media do you mostly use when posting about your
relationship?
Results: Twitter-3 (15%); Instagram-5(25%); Facebook-12(60%)
Evaluation: The results from this question assert that young adults are using Facebook as the
dominant form of Social Network Sites as compared to Twitter, or Instagram.
Question Five: Have you discovered information (Negative or Positive) regarding your
relationship on social media?
Results: Negative-5(25%); Positive-9 (45%); Neither -6(30%)
Evaluation: The results from this questions reveals that young adults who use SNS and have
displayed information concerning their relationship on SNS, have mostly encountered positive
information on their choice of SNS. This findings shows that the majority of young adults are
posting positive stuff as it relates to their relationship. This will help decrease the thought of
jealousy and stalking behavior that has been study by researchers in this field.

Resu

lts :

Discussion :
The aim of the study was to explore the effects that social media has on romantic
relationships. This was to be completed by evaluating participants Facebook usage and content
shared on their Facebook as well as their romantic partners Facebook page. The results showed
that there is a linkage between young adults who displayed their relationship on Facebook and
those who believed that social media plays a role on relationship growth. This shows that
individuals who displayed their status have either had their relationship effected in a negative or
positive way as it serves as an indicator for relationship growth. This also shows that individuals
can only become effected by Facebook or other social media sites if they displayed their
relationship status or content revealing that they are in a relationship. This concept also aligns
with relationship posting on social media. This is so because in order for an individual to
experience some form of jealousy or stalking behavior, he or she along with their romantic
partners must be an active poster of their relationship on Facebook or other social media sites.
According to my findings, young adults use Facebook more than twitter or Instagram to share
their relationship with the world. Surprisingly, I was amazed to find out that individuals
discovered more positive post concerning their relationship than negative post. The reason for
derives from my personal experiences. Ive tend to see Facebook users displayed breakup
messages, and vulgar languages destroying the image of their significant other than positive
message uplifting their romantic partner. This discovery from my findings have proven my
hypothesis to be false. However, negative information discovered by relationship partners is a
little over half of positive information discovered. This findings shows that young adults who
discovered negative information about their relationship may result to jealous or becoming
obsessive viewers of their partners SNS.

Overall, I conclude that Social Media does not negatively affect romantic relationship.
However, young adults ought to be careful of what they post on SNS, because these post may
result in their romantic partner to stalking behavior and jealousy thoughts. A way in which I
could improve my research is to expand my sample size and open my survey up to more
students. Twenty individuals is a small sample size being that all results stems from one location,
lacking diversity. Another factor that may utter my results is the formation and method used to
asses my survey questions. With more precise questions that uses a scale to evaluate partipants
answers, may have led to more findings. If I could expand on this research, I would seek to
discover how romantic relationships are effected online and offline.

Disclosure Statement
The author have no conflict of interest.

References

Elphinston, R. A., & Noller, P. (2011). Time to Face It! Facebook Intrusion and the
Implications for Romantic Jealousy and Relationship Satisfaction. Cyberpsychology,
Behavior & Social Networking, 14
Muise, A., Christofides, E., & Desmarais, S. (2009). More Information than You Ever
Wanted: Does Facebook Bring Out the Green-Eyed Monster of Jealousy? Cyberpsychology
& Behavior, 12(4), 441-444
Lyndon, A., Bonds-Raacke, J., & Cratty, A. D. (2011). College Students' Facebook Stalking
of Ex-Partners. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 14(12)
Utz, S. and Beukeboom, C. J. (2011), The Role of Social Network Sites in Romantic
Relationships: Effects on Jealousy and Relationship Happiness. Journal of ComputerMediated Communication.
Coyne, S. M., Stockdale, L., Busby, D., Iverson, B. and Grant, D. M. (2011), I luv u :)!: A
Descriptive Study of the Media Use of Individuals in Romantic Relationships. Family
Relations.
Merkle, E. R. and Richardson, R. A. (2000), Digital Dating and Virtual Relating:
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192.
Donn, J. E., & Sherman, R. C. (2002). Attitudes and Practices Regarding the Formation of
Romantic Relationships on the Internet. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 5(2), 107-123.
Couch D., & Liamputtong. (2008) Online Dating and Mating:the use of internet to meet
sexual partner.Healthy Policies and Services.
Larry R., Nancy C., Cheyenne C., and Julie F. (2007) The Impact of emotionality and selfdisclosure on online dating versus traditional dating.
Couch, D., Liamputtong, P., & Pitts, M. (2012). What are the real and perceived risks and
dangers of online dating? Perspectives from online daters. Health, Risk & Society, 14(7/8),
697-714. doi:10.1080/13698575.2012.720964

Appendices

Blank Survey Questions

1. Have you ever displayed your relationship on Social Media?
2. How often did/do you post about your relationship on social media?
3. Have you discovered information (positive or negative) regarding your
relationship on social media?
4. Which form of Social Media do you mostly use when posting about your
relationships?
5. Do you believe that social media plays a role on social media growth

Survey Letter
Dear Classmates,
I am conducting a survey on Social Media and its effects on Romantic Relationship. The
purpose of this survey is to see how individuals 18 and up relationships are affected by
the use of social media. I aimed to discover if individuals who spend a lot of time on SNS
and share the relationship on these sites have discovered positive or negative
information concerning their romantic partners. The survey is 5 questions and takes 2
minute to complete. Participation is voluntary. Your responses are very important for me
to reach a result. Your responses are confidential, submitting the questionnaire indicates
your voluntary consent to participate. All results will be made available on my research
site on December 2nd. Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Syera Weah