Social media is a brand-new minefield for relationships. 20 years ago, no one had to worry about “Facebook official,” boyfriends who Insta-story too much or girls who refuse to like your posts. Social media can equal drama for a relationship on a bunch of levels. If your relationship drama is over a boo who shares too much on social media, here’s what to do about it.
Talk about it
Even though social media is a relatively new problem, the solution starts the old-fashioned way – with communication. Talk to your boo about what they’re doing that’s problematic. As always, have specific examples of their actions and be clear about how it makes you feel. Find a quiet, calm time to discuss this. It’s important to assume innocence here. Your boo isn’t oversharing to hurt you. Assume they have no idea how you feel about the social media sharing diarrhea. Don’t go in angry.
Limit your critique
While your boo may be doing all kinds of activities on social media that you perceive as lame, hold back on listing every single annoying thing they do. Reign in your convo and only discuss what pertains to you and your relationship. If he wants to live blog his dog’s bath, fine. If she needs to hashtag everything “blessed,” even when it’s just a pic of a side salad, that’s OK. Or, honestly, I don’t think that’s OK, but it’s not relevant to this conversation. You’re focusing on what they share about you and your relationship that makes you uncomfortable. That’s it.
Look at the positives
I’m not saying you need to embrace the oversharing, but it’ll help you if you try to focus on what’s great and meaningful about the sharing. It is good that you two have such a well-documented relationship, right? It’s adorable that he’s so excited about your relationship that he wants to shout it from the digital rooftops. The comments you get from her followers are really sweet. Look for small things like that. You’ll be less turned off by the entire idea of sharing on social media if you do.
Find compromise
Like any disagreement with your boo, you want to find the best solution for the two of you together. That means that it’s not entirely going to go your way and it won’t go entirely their way either. You can’t ban your boo from social media or even posting about your relationship, but you can set some boundaries. Maybe it’s not venting about your fights. Or not posting without getting photo approval from you first. It could be changing their privacy settings so only friends and family see what they share. Work to find solutions that work for both of you.
Hope that helps those of you in love with oversharers. If you have a social media presence with an adorable relationship – that both your boo and you are happy to share, of course! – leave your handle below. I’d love to check it out!
