Is Technology Ruining Our Relationships?
by BRIANNA SCULLY
You’re lying in bed next to your partner when you notice something: a cheeky smile crawling across his face, illuminated by his phone screen. Instead of making you feel warm inside like your partner’s smile usually would, it makes you feel the opposite.
“Who are you talking to?” you ask, playing it cool.
“No one,” he replies.
Of course.
Technology has improved our lives in a myriad of ways. We now have a device in our pockets that gives us access to an endless amount of information, allows us to communicate with people anywhere around the world and much more. With all of these amazing perks, is it possible that technology’s downfall is in our relationships?
As the old saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. With instant messaging and apps like Tinder, there seem to be more and more avenues for people to cheat on their partners.
Having a library of attractive people looking for love in your pocket can be quite tempting for some, and it’s not uncommon to find people in relationships using these apps. Some people in relationships that use these apps purely use them for fun, however there are many people out there who have ulterior motives.
It’s not uncommon for someone to be suspicious of their partner using their phone to speak to someone of the opposite sex. As their suspicions grow, they may start to question their partner or alternatively, they might look through their partner’s phone to read text messages and try to catch them in the act. The problem with this method is that before you even find an inappropriate photo or text message the trust has already been broken. Despite whether your partner has been faithful or unfaithful, you’ve already proven to yourself that you don’t trust them by going through their phone in the first place.
However it can be tempting to snoop through your partner’s phone if you’re suspicious of their behaviour. I had a friend who realised her now ex-partner was regularly talking to his ex-girlfriend so she asked him if he could stop. Now, if the Internet didn’t exist this would be easy right? She would ask him to stop, and it would be pretty obvious if he didn’t.
However with the Internet, people can get creative. Her partner decided to change his ex-girlfriends name in his phone to a male friend’s name, so whenever his girlfriend was suspicious he just said he was texting his friend.
Although it seems the Internet is tempting people to cheat, I have to disagree. I personally think that if someone is using the Internet to cheat, they would cheat on their partner without the Internet as well.
Instead, I think the Internet causes tension in relationships that you wouldn’t have otherwise. If your partner was innocently speaking to someone of the opposite sex every day at work you wouldn’t know and it wouldn’t be a problem. If, however, they were texting this person every day, you might start to get a bit annoyed.
Regardless of these 21st century temptations, it’s important to be with someone you can trust. Trust is an essential part of a happy, healthy relationship, and you should be able to have faith in their actions, Internet and all.
Do you think the Internet makes it easier to cheat?
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