Relationship Privacy Online: How to Keep Your Love Guarded by Sophie Humphrey
Key Highlights Keeping relationship privacy online starts with small actions like avoiding tagging your partner in posts. Oversharing personal struggles, health issues, or intimate moments can lead to resentment and trust issues. Geo-tagging can expose you to safety risks, so updating privacy settings ensures that your relationship stays protected. In this age of social media, everybody is posting everything about their lives online. Pregnancy announcements, engagement photos, and photos of their significant others. The oversaturation of this content makes it hard to keep relationship privacy online. In 2019, the Pew Research Center conducted a study, whose results showed that 48% of 18-29-year-olds found it important to post about their partner online to show they care. So, what can we do? When everybody else you know posts their relationship updates and date night photos, it feels daunting to go against that grain. But there are many ways to maintain relationship privacy online without stopping posting altogether. Image credit: freepik 1. Post photos without tags The practice of tagging people now should be reserved for corporate events but people still do that! So the easiest way to keep relationship privacy online on social media sites is to stop tagging your partner. You don't need to tag them unless they want it to be known that they are with you! In today's world, it's easy to find anyone online, anyway, so people are less likely to go looking if they don't have a profile link to go and stalk! Removing previously tagged photos eliminates any possibility of your partner's profile showing up for your followers or curious onlookers. It also ensures that those in the DMs can see that you are with somebody, but they don't need to know who! Relationship privacy online is all about subtle showing, not telling! 2. Disregarding relationship privacy online: Rethink what content you are sharing While constant posting about each other on social media can mean many different things, it's good to rethink what is being shared. Relationship privacy online can be kept by sharing less. Unwanted scrutiny can be an unwelcome part of couples photo sharing, and inviting people into your relationship business. Even simple captions can warrant unwanted advice and opinions, so sometimes it's better not to invite them! Assessing your sharing habits can create more awareness around who and potential factors that could harm your relationship. 3. Respect your partner's boundaries and relationship privacy online rules Gossip sessions with the girls can sometimes result in obvious subject matter: boys, but so can social media posts. Considering your partner's boundaries and privacy before posting is imperative to maintaining relationship privacy online. Do not share personal or sensitive information in online posts, such as health conditions, personal struggles, or anything considered intimate. Oversharing without their permission can lead to resentment in the relationship and a loss of trust. Discuss your boundaries for each social media platform and consider this with your followers. Social media platforms these days have specific privacy rules for photos, posts, and videos. Therefore, you can edit these according to your sharing preferences. Only sharing things you and your partner feel comfortable with ensures relationship privacy online is kept and boundaries between you and your partner are respected. Research even shows that respecting each other's boundaries in a relationship leads to more respect and a stronger relationship dynamic. Trust is certainly a crucial non-negotiable for a healthy relationship. 4. Avoid checking in or geo-tagging on your social media Tempting as it is, geotagging your partner online is a solid no-no! Not only do your followers and friends know where you are and where you've been, but it also opens you up to a world of danger. Broadcasting your real-time location opens you up to potential safety risks such as stalking or harassment, which can be possible with a bad ex!
If you're going to tag your partner or reveal your location, you should update your privacy settings for locations, and check-ins are set to specific or close friends only. Changing your settings and habits helps protect you from people knowing where you are. It ensures you and your partner's physical safety and keeps a good level of relationship privacy online. Image credit: freepik 5. Audit your online presence Auditing is a key part of existing online and can be done when your social media feels outdated. Learning how to audit your socials is easy and can be done by you and your partner. The process involves reviewing your posts, likes, and comments and seeing if they still feel authentic and relevant. If we relate this to privacy, you will review your posts to see if you overshared. Editing captions and removing location tags is an easy way of auditing social media presence. After all, if your posts are old, it's safe to say most people forgot about them anyway. Deleting outdated content or irrelevant posts can help you feel like you have control over your life and aid you in curating relationship privacy online without a mass deletion session. Alternatively, you can use Google to reverse image search and search for yourself online to see if there is any compromising information out there about you. Even putting your social profiles private protects you from strangers seeing your posts or stories. In Conclusion, Relationship privacy online isn't about shutting the world out. It's about creating a space where your love story thrives authentically, free from unwanted scrutiny. By setting boundaries, respecting your partner's wishes, and keeping your online presence curated, you can nurture a deeper connection and build a fortress of trust that transcends the digital world. The digital age has revolutionized the way we connect, particularly in the realm of love and relationships Read this article to understand the multifaceted ways social media influences our love lives in the modern world.
