Breakups are nasty. Even if you pulled the plug on a relationship, moving on is not exactly fun. As if it wasn’t already hard enough to nurse a broken heart, the virtual extensions of relationships on social media make dealing with breakups and moving on that much harder. Imagine an ex sending your overtly emotional messages on Snapchat just when you thought you were ready to move on or finding pictures of your ex in every flashback alert Dropbox sends to your inbox. And then there is social media stalking. Whether you are the one doing it or at the receiving end, it is all pretty pathetic. With digital crumbs of a past relationship being tossed your way every now and then, getting over a relationship is just about impossible. So we’ll tell you how to do social media when you break up with somebody. Here’s what you can do to prevent social media from mocking your broken heart:
#1. Change Your Relationship Status
A change in status is to relationships today what divorce is to marriage. You need to make that update to formalize the end of a relationship, especially if you have been candid about it on social media sites. No matter how hard it may seem, take that step and change your status once you’re sure that your relationship is over for good. If you put it out there, it’ll save you the trouble of having to answer awkward questions from online friends who may have no inkling about what’s going on in your life.
take that step and change your status
#2. Unfollow, Unfriend
There are various schools of thoughts about whether you should unfollow or unfriend an ex on social media. Some say it can make your seem too harsh and aggresive, others claim it amounts to making an unnecessary show of personal upheaval on a very public platform while a section of people believe it is completely acceptable. We endorse the completely acceptable view. And why not? It is better to unfriend or unfollow and be happy in your ignorance rather than cringing every time you are bombarded with pictures, updates and tweets from your ex.
unfriend or unfollow and be happy in your ignorance
#3. Take a Social Sabbatical
Remember the time you made a fool out of yourself by getting wasted and calling an ex? Remember how it felt when you woke up the next day with a hangover and many regrets? Well, now, it’s worse than a voicemail. If you’re drowning your sorrows, or you think you might, remove the temptation of ranting, rambling, or worse, crying on social media. If you are taking a breakup really badly, it is best to take a social sabbatical and deactivate all your accounts until you are sure that you are in total control of your emotions and actions.
deactivate all your accounts
#4. Start Fresh
This is a drastic step, only for those who are really, really taking it horribly. You can avoid all the social media mocking with a clean slate. Get a new Twitter handle, start a new FB or Instagram account, and avoid the past altogether. No more ‘this day two years ago’ reminders. No more scrolling back to the good old days. That’s simply not an option anymore. But if you’re taking it that hard, we recommend getting a dog. You might need one.
we recommend getting a dog. You might need one.
Image: Shutterstock
