Navigating Social Media After A Breakup
Social media is entertaining and all, but it can really make breakups a lot more difficult. As challenging as breakups already are, seeing pictures of your ex on instagram or Facebook can feel like squeezing a lemon on your wound. Making some adjustments to the way you use social media can help ease the pain of a breakup. Here are some tips.
1. Unplug From Social Media For A Bit
The best way to use social media after a breakup is not to. You don’t have to deactivate your accounts, but delete the apps from your phone for a few days while you process what has happened. You’ll find nothing but drama and anxiety on social media, so take this hiatus for yourself.
2. Don’t Post About Your Breakup
When you decide to go back to using social media, don’t post about the breakup. The end of a relationship should really be between you and the other person. It’s very healthy to talk about your feelings, but the whole world doesn’t need to know the details. Talking to your friends, family, or even a counselor can help you cope with your change in relationship status. Avoid posting anything hurtful about your ex on any social platform. Doing that could make a bad situation worse, and can even cause an all out social slander war.
3. Unfollow, Mute, or Block Your Ex
It will be hard to move on, when your ex’s face is popping up on your feed every day. To make things easier on yourself you should unfollow your ex and their friends. If you don’t want anyone to know that you’ve unfollowed them - “mute” them. On Instagram, this will just block their posts from appearing in your feed and they won’t know anythings been changed. On snapchat, this feature is called “Do Not Disturb Mode”. Being proactive about making these changes will help you move forward quicker.
4. Avoid looking at your ex’s friends’ pages
Step #2 won’t be effective if you’re checking out your ex’s friends channels trying to see what’s been going on. Don’t try to play detective. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
5. Focus On Real Life
Surround yourself with friends in real life and grow those friendships even more. Now that you have some more time to dedicate towards your other relationships, plan some fun activities so you have something to look forward to. The world is your oyster!
Breakups can be really hard, but time does heal all wounds. The best thing you can do is to take extra care of yourself and try to stay positive. Hopefully some of these tips help you navigate it a little better - at least as far as social media goes!