There’s a Scientific Reason for Facebook PDA But That Doesn’t Make it OK
Whether you’re single or taken, you probs get annoyed when that one Facebook friend of yours posts a long-ass status update about her one year anniversary with her boyfriend, detailing how they met, why she loves him, and other details that you could live happily without knowing.
You probably assume that the over-sharers on Facebook are over-compensating for their not so fab relationship, and although studies have previously confirmed this hypothesis, a new study says otherwise.
According to The Science of Us, over-sharing love-birds on Facebook probably have something called Relationship-Contingent Self Esteem, which is “an unhealthy self esteem that comes with romantic relationships.” People with RCSE generally have lower personal self esteem and higher social anxiety, which is not that chill.
But it doesn’t mean their relationships are bad, per se. While a low relationship self esteem seems that it would fit right in with faking a perfect relationship (looking at you T-Swift), the author says that those with RCSE don’t necessarily have bad relationships, in fact, they might actually be just as head over heels in love as their Instagram post proclaims. Gag us, please.
The study also says that introverts may also be more likely to post the aforementioned #MCM and #relationshipgoals posts because they’re more comfortable sharing info about their relationship via social media rather than in person, which seems like a stretch, but whatevs I guess.
Also, I’m an introvert and I’d rather be caught dead than have my BF in my profile picture or post “taken” in my Insta profile, so this can’t be a generalization for all introverts.
So, I guess now we know why those annoying social media friends of yours can’t stop posting about their bae, but just because we know why doesn’t make us like them anymore. On the plus side, Facebook now makes it super easy to unfollow someone’s timeline without looking like a bitch. As for Instagram and Twitter, you’re on your own.
