In today’s world, trust is the cornerstone of any healthy relationship, but it’s time to rethink what trust means and how we practice it. While communication and honesty should be emphasized in any relationship, the lack of boundaries—especially on social media—can turn any situation toxic. Trust is not an easy thing to achieve. Once trust is broken, it’s incredibly difficult to build it back up in a relationship.
Elizabeth Schemenan, a Junior at Huntington Beach High School (HBHS), said, “Rebuilding a relationship is solely based on actions not words, because sometimes a promise is just empty words.”
Trusting your intuition is the hardest thing to do in a relationship, as “What To Do If You Don’t Trust Your Partner” author Chance Marshall said, “Have confidence in your perceptions (as well as weighing them up against past experiences) and pay attention to red flags. If your gut is telling you something, don’t let it sit. Speak it. Ask that question. If you harbor it, it will grow like a thorn in the side of your relationship.”
Considering our current technology-based society, the majority of relationships are involved or shared on social media. By setting boundaries, you define your expectations for how you want to be treated and how you will treat your partner. This clarity helps avoid misunderstandings that can erode trust over time. Relationships are already hard to maintain but adding in social media makes it even harder. Oversharing personal information with a partner, such as location and account passwords, is just asking for boundaries to be broken.
In the article How Does Social Media Affect a Relationship, Kimberly Panganiban says, “Social media has also made it possible for us to share our relationship with the world. This can be positive or negative, sharing too much on social media can lessen intimacy in a relationship, and sharing too little can cause others to question the authenticity of it. Finding a healthy balance between sharing too much and not enough is important for a healthy relationship.”
Even if social media is a necessary component of modern life, spending time together and having offline interactions should take priority over social media, especially when it comes to developing and maintaining trust. Making a conscious effort to understand one another’s expectations and comfort zones in the digital sphere will help reduce miscommunication and foster a more positive relationship.
