Getting into and out of relationships is stressful enough, but the advent of the social media age has really complicated the process in frustrating new ways. We now use the internet to find dates who, if we’re lucky, turn into real-life flings. Then we have to put time and thought into a strategy for revealing (or at least implying) we are coupled-up, and how many relationship-y snaps we share. But after the fling flames out, we are faced with a new dilemma: what happens in our little phone-addled brains after a breakup.
You’re already probably wrestling with the dangerous urge to stalk your ex’s social profiles , searching for clues they’re moving on. But what about your profile, not to mention your general online conduct? If you’ve spent a lot of time integrating your romantic partner into your online identity—posting about them, sharing pictures, and connecting with their friends (who are maybe now your friends)—their sudden absence there will be noticeable to others, including people you might not talk to often enough that they’ll hear about your breakup in “real life.”
So what do you do? Do you delete (or at least archive) all the old photos of your ex? Do you tweet or post more than normal to your Story to give your former flame the impression you’re thriving in their absence, even if you’re not? Do you go dark for a while, and relish the break from social media?
Let us know how you handle the online public face of your breakups. As much as we want to pretend it doesn’t matter, who among us hasn’t done a deep dive on someone else’s Instagram grid after suspecting they went through a conscious uncoupling? The people are watching, so let’s figure out what to do about it together.