As we creep closer and closer to Halloween and the much-anticipated holiday season, couples may begin to feel an unneeded pressure to be cute. Cuteness, or the requirement to be so, is a common, but unfortunate side effect of the most wonderful time of the year.
In addition to maintaining a certain standard of cute, couples are also faced with challenges like meeting their significant other’s family for the first time, introducing said significant other to their own family and finding an adequate gift on a ramen noodle budget.
There will never be a more trivial time for those in love.
Social media outlets, such as Twitter and Instagram, ruthlessly perpetuate the idea that couples must abide by the strict social conventions of the holiday season. This unsaid code is enforced by the millions of people who post about whatever holiday inspired gesture they performed or received from their significant other. Our timelines are currently flooded by images of spooky gift baskets, corn maze photoshoots and his and her jack-o-lanterns. Soon these photos will be replaced by images of couples attending each other’s Thanksgiving celebrations, matching flannel pajamas and poorly assembled snowmen. Any of these festive activities can be performed as a single person or with friends. Unfortunately, photos of friends or an individual during the holidays does not garner as many likes or as much attention when compared to a couple.
It is in the middle of this holiday hoopla that couples experience insecurities. With photos of other couples being “cute” plastered on every social media platform, couples might question why they are not exhibiting the same behavior. One half of the duo might wonder why the other is not posting pictures of them in a pumpkin patch. They both may begin to question the depth of their love in comparison to the those on their timeline. Is their compatibility measured by the number of double-taps they get on their photo?
As someone in a relationship, I also feel pressured to portray my relationship in a certain light on social media. This pressure seems even more intense during the holiday season. I have often succumbed to the insecure idea that my partner does not love me or is embarrassed of being with me if he does not post about me on his social media accounts.
Obviously, none of these insecurities are valid or rational, but they are often experienced during this time of the year. It is important to remember that the quality of our relationships, romantic and otherwise, are not determined by social media standards. They are not meant to be shared and compared. Each individual relationship is unique in how and when they express their love for one another.
It is within a couple’s best interest to not participate in or spend time viewing this type of behavior. This may be the only way to avoid the giant pitfall that is social media during the holiday season.