Innocent fun or dangerous flirtation?We now have the ability to get back in touch with old friends and lovers on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. With this new technology, it has become more difficult to straddle the line between digital flirting and an affair.
Digital flirting can take the form of Facebook messaging, video chats, texting, exchanging photos, and more. The lines of infidelity are more easily blurred when you have social media tools at your fingertips.
Is digital flirting causing infidelity?
Infidelity signifies a breaking of trust or keeping of secrets that hurt your partnership with your significant other. Infidelity does not have to be physical. Have you found that your online encounters are causing a breakdown of trust in your relationship?
Does your partner feel that the emotional intimacy of your relationship has been shattered? For your partner, that feeling of betrayal might be as large as if you had cheated on them physically.
Digital flirting isn’t good for you either
You may find that you are no longer living “in the moment.” Spending more time connecting online may cause you to feel disconnected from the physical life that you are leading, or from your relationship. While you may have started to use social media in order to fill a gap in your life, you may feel that gap widening instead of closing as your relationship breaks down.
Are you in the danger zone?
Click here to take our quiz on whether digital flirting has put your relationship in the “danger zone.”
Rebuild trust, communicate
You can take control of your relationship and repair any damage caused by digital flirting. Counseling can help you to reconnect with your life without the need to escape into social media. Following these instructions can help you make significant improvements to your life and your relationship:
- Go cold turkey. Cut yourself off from any means to continue flirting, whether that means blocking certain people on your social media accounts, taking a break from a specific site, or more.
- If you are tempted to send a message that you aren’t sure is appropriate, don’t send the message! Save the message and review the message the next day.
- Spend time working on creating intimacy with your partner and strengthening your relationship.
- Create boundaries that both you and your partner are comfortable with.
Couples counseling can help you work on rebuilding trust and improving communications.
Get help today
Dr. Dahlia Mann has a doctorate in clinical psychology and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) in Portland, Maine, and New Jersey. She also offers online therapy. Through therapy with Dr. Mann, you can learn how to share your feelings more effectively, and how to listen to each other. You will be able to enjoy each other with infecting the present moment with old hurts. Call today, or fill out the contact form and click Send.
