Has Social Media Redefined Cheating?

In this fast paced world that we live in with social media at the tip of our fingers nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, we have to ask ourselves: has this new networking platform redefined what cheating is? While you won’t catch me pointing the blame of cheaters worldwide on the actual social media platforms, you will find me continuing a discussion here about how these platforms have redefined what cheating is.

Let me start by first stating that I personally feel that cheating can be both emotional and physical outlets that basically stem beyond the realm of normal social conversations with another person. If you or your partner is having conversations with another person with whom you are having feelings of intellectual connection or physical connection behind that of a regular friendship, then you may be guilty of cheating on your partner.

Smartphones allow us to be constantly connected to others from all over the world so it’s no wonder a partner who isn’t having their needs met are able to secretly hold a long distance emotional relationship with a person outside of their relationship. I also can step back and understand how some may not feel an emotional connection, such as conversing in random flirts or conversations with another person, may not be actual cheating. While I can step back and understand where a person who thinks this isn’t cheating is coming from, I firmly feel it is defined as cheating.

When your partner is conversing on a regular basis with someone online and is appearing to be more withdrawn with you, such as you can sense this change in what they share with you for information, they start appearing more guarded about their smartphone or being logged into their accounts. There are those subtle signs that something is amidst, while these signs may not mean your partner is cheating, it’s a good chance they are conversing in a way that they know you won’t tolerate. If your partner is conversing in a way that they know you won’t tolerate in your relationship, and in turn are attempting to hide that from you, then trust has been broken and deceit has opened its doors.

Once deceit has opened its doors, and you are faced with a little doubt within the relationship it can stir up feelings of insecurity based on that gut instinct that something is no longer the same within your relationship. I would advise an open conversation about what you’re seeing but honestly most of those conversations lead you down the path of your partner accusing you of just being ridiculous. I say, if you don’t feel comfortable opening up dialogue about your concerns then you need to either end that relationship because it isn’t healthy or let go of those gut instincts and let the truth come out eventually. The choice is up to you.

Cheating was once defined as a person who is in a physical relationship with a person outside of their monogamous relationship, but now social media has given people outlets to partake in emotional connections. An emotional connection or emotional cheating is hard to prove, because it has to involve the partner admitting that they are partaking in such an event. You see, it’s always easier to prove physical contact versus emotional connections, just because emotions are a feeling that are not visible to the human eye.

While you and your partner may disagree on what constitutes as cheating, it’s important to discuss what you feel is tolerable communication for both of you as a means to ensure your relationship continues on a healthy path. If you find that your partner is not aligned with you in your beliefs of this new definition of cheating stemming from social media networks, then you will have to do some soul searching to find out if you can really handle the longevity of a relationship where your partner will continue and purse emotional connections outside of your relationship.