The Effects of social media on Relationships

Step 1:
Thesis Statement: social media has negative effects on romantic relationships.
Step 2:
Premise 1: Social media decreases time with partners.
Premise 2: social media promotes unfavorable comparisons.
Conclusion: social media has negative effects on romantic relationships.
Step 3:
Premise 3: things that reduce quality time with partners in a romantic relationship and cause
negative comparisons may cause negative impacts on such relationships.
Step 4:
This new premise (premise 3) appears to be true. The logical reasoning for this is that
when a person in love feels that the partner does not spend quality time with them because of the
love of social media, they may seek attention elsewhere, hence jeopardizing the relationship. The
ultimate goal of a romantic relationship is companionship. However, this goal may be distorted if
partners spend most of their time on social media instead of using such times to enjoy romantic
moments with their partners.
Moreover, social media makes it easier for lovers to contrast their relationships to others
that they see online negatively. This may lead to betrayal in relationships and possibly promote
the demise of the affair. When partners love the one posted on social media, they may feel
discouraged more so when the posted relationships are more lavish than theirs.
There could be two objections to these premises. The first likely objection could be that
spending time is relative because several factors can cause it. In other words, a partner may
spend time on social media because of duty calls. For such people, it calls for patience and
understanding from their partners because relationships cannot be maintained by romance alone
but by other necessities such as food, finance, et cetera. Thus, for people who have online jobs
that demand that they have to spend their time on social media, the sacrifice may lead to more
positive impacts than negative ones. The second objection would be, not all are negative
comparisons. In other words, partners may draw inspirations to be like specific couples who post
their relationships on social media. Given this approach, social media would have acted as a
source of motivation for those in love to unlock their potentials.
My responses to this objection would be that, while there may be cases in which social
media leads to more positive impacts than negative consequences, it is still not advisable for
partners to overspend their time on social media. Various things have potential benefits in
romantic relationships but still do not qualify to be safe in relationships. For example, sex before
marriages may positively impact a relationship because it strengthens the bond between those in
love. However, this benefit could only be short-lived because premarital sex may make the male
partner withdraw his commitment in the relationship because he has satisfied his lust. In this
case, the relationship may be jeopardized and perhaps lead to breakups. However, this
justification should not be equated with saying social media should be illegal for romantic
relationships. Spending time on various online platforms could have many advantages to
partners. However, as long as potential negative effects on an existing relationship, it should
never be encouraged or rather regulated. For example, even if a partner spends time on social
media because of employment issues, the other partner may feel insecure and fail to trust the
other.

3
Besides, even though partners may gain inspiration from posted relationships on social
media, such motivations are only driven by lust and not innate and pure emotional affection.
Similarly, comparisons may pressurize those in love to reach particular standards beyond their
capacities. For example, partners may post their lavish lifestyles with good houses and vehicles.
This may make a partner create conditions for another to continue dating them. For example, the
female partner may demand that they move into new expensive houses with their partners or
break up with them. When their current lovers fail to meet this obligation, the female partners
may leave the current relationships and look for other ones where their demands will be
guaranteed.
Step 5:
Premise 1: Spending too much time on social media can lead to mistrusts in romantic
relationships.
Premise 2: social media may lead to negative comparisons in relationships.
Premise 3: Things that cause mistrust among people in love and promote negative comparisons
should be considered negative.
Conc