Breakups. Most of the time, breakups are hard to navigate. Sifting through what can only be described as emotional wreckage and listening to sad songs is just half of the process. Nowadays, getting over a broken heart is much harder than it used to be. Why? Social media.
With social media, we get constant updates on everyone in our life. Usually, this is great. We can see how their day-to-day activities are going through Facebook, see the most aesthetically pleasing version of their life on Instagram and maybe even enjoy their minute-to-minute updates on Snapchat. However, when you’ve just broken up with someone, how do you manage to get over them when you’re constantly getting updates on their life?
Get away from social media — at least for a little while.
The first thing you should be doing is just taking a little break. Take the time to be with yourself and think about who you are. Breaking up with someone is hard, so now, consider reevaluating the new, single you before moving forward. Big changes in your life, no matter how sad or upsetting can be an opportunity to reevaluate who you are. Take a little time to yourself so you can find a little breathing room for being your best self.
Disable “on this day” and other timehop features.
Facebook’s “on this day” feature is meant to remind you of (probably very embarrassing) things you posted in the past. This might be fun usually, but the last thing you need when you’re trying to get over someone is a notification popping up reminding you of some cute, unbearably sweet thing you did with your ex when you were still together.
Whatever you do, don’t stalk them.
I know resisting the temptation can be hard, and I know you want to get updates on how they’re doing after this breakup, but I can almost guarantee, it will not end well. Stalking your ex is a surefire way to get yourself hurt, and it will get you nowhere. It’s harder to get over a breakup if you keep going back to their social media.
To block or not to block?
Judge the severity of your broken heart. Maybe the breakup was amicable. Maybe it was not so amicable. If you are seething with rage you can hardly control, you might want to consider blocking them. On most social media apps, blocking someone will prevent you from seeing their comments and likes even when your mutual friends are involved. So, if you are really hurt, this is always an option.
Check your Instagram.
We all post cute pictures of our significant other with even cuter captions. You may want to consider deleting certain pictures or changing their captions after a breakup.
Follow v. Unfollow
Similarly to blocking or not, you have to consider, are you comfortable with seeing your ex’s face and thoughts when you open up your social media? Every time? If the breakup was amicable or you are on good terms then you might not have an issue with seeing their face everywhere. However, if you are in the fine line between wanting to see everything they post but aren’t ready to block them, there is nothing wrong with hitting the unfollow button, even if it is just for a little while, to give yourself time to heal.
In the end, there is nothing much we can do to avoid getting our heart broken. And, after the fact, we can just eat our favorite foods, listen to some sad music and try to move on. Sure, social media has made this harder, but there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to live your best life, be your best self, and get over a broken heart.
