The rise of social media changed how we interact with each other and the world. Today, marriages have to manage the role social media will play in their lives and depending on how couples approach social media, it has the capacity to strengthen marital bonds or even drive couples toward divorce. To protect your marriage from a social media-related divorce, consider following these guidelines.
Don’t Argue with Each Other
Most married couples encounter disagreements or fights, but your arguments should never occur on a social media profile. Arguing publicly is often humiliating for both of you and it only cements feelings and tense emotions in writing. Social media also presents your arguments to followers and friends, giving you an unwanted audience that opens your marriage to more people. This can lead to even more trouble in a marriage down the road, even if the fight or argument is over.
Do Support Each Other’s Efforts on Social Media
Use social media to strengthen your relationship with your spouse, not tear it down. When your spouse posts about his or her work achievements or personal successes, consider “like”-ing or commenting on the posts. You can use social media to support him or her by being there electronically as well as in real life.
Don’t Violate Each Other’s Privacy
It isn’t a good idea to post sensitive, private information about your partner online without his or her permission. This includes jokes about his or her habits or perspective. Similarly, do not share information like his or her phone number, email address, or accounts on other social media. Even when you have no malicious intent, invading your partner’s privacy online can strain your relationship.
Do Ask Permission to Post Certain Images
Before you post images or other content that contains your partner or child to social media, talk to him or her about it. Everybody has the right to decide whether they want a picture of themselves posted online. If you are the parent of a minor child, you or your spouse might decide you do not want certain pictures of your child online – or any at all.
Don’t Insult Either Party’s Former Partner
Social media is not the place to start conflicts. If you feel strongly that your spouse’s former partner is a poor parent or you are upset about how he or she treats your spouse, vent your frustrations to your spouse privately. Your entire list of friends does not need to know how you feel about your spouse’s former partner or the details of your disagreements with him or her.
If your spouse has a parenting plan with his or her former partner, posting negative content about the former partner can potentially have a negative impact on the parenting plan. As a general rule, keep yourself out of the parenting plan – online and offline.
Our Experienced Mesa Family Lawyers are Here to Help You
Being married takes work. Sometimes, working at your marriage involves bringing in outside professional help from an experienced family lawyer. To get started with a member of our team at Edwards & Petersen, PLC, contact our office to set up your initial consultation.