Social media culture pushes you to share everything — every emotion, every thoughts, every event, every photo… you get the point. What if you didn’t post daily pics and tweet daily thoughts? Would you cease to exist to the outside world, or would you be a hell of a lot happier? Here’s why you need to keep your private life private:
- You’re promoting your own gossip. If you’re complaining about always having people in your business, then stop putting your private life in people’s faces. You don’t need Entertainment Tonight following you around — you’re your own paparazzi and you only have yourself to blame.
- It’s amplifies the drama. What once was little is now a pretty big thing, and that’s all on you. What did you expect shouting the inner details of your life from the rooftops would do? The more people you involve in your problems, the bigger they’ll become, and they won’t stop until you do.
- You’ll care what people think. And yes, they will be judging you. It’s human nature. As much as you assure yourself (and maybe others) that you don’t care what anyone else thinks of you, when your personal life is on display, you’ll get defensive.
- You’ll never move on. If you spread the intimate details of your breakup all over town, you won’t be moving on until everyone else does. Your fights will always come back to you in ‘he said, she said’ form as all your friends let you in on their own version of the latest gossip.
- You’re betraying your partner (or anyone else involved in what you’re posting). What happens in any relationship is between the two people involved, no one else. You don’t need anyone else’s opinion, just your own. So respect your partner and keep it to yourself.
- Your safety is important. Going on vacation? Don’t blast it over social media, unless you want to help your friendly neighborhood burglars. Every piece of information you put out there can be used against you in a number of different ways, so stay private and stay safe.
- You should value opinions that are actually important. Your relationship is between you and your partner. That means if you have a fight, it stays between you. I once knew a guy who blasted his ex on social media for cheating. They eventually got back together and now they’re getting married, but if I never forgot their scandal, do you think anyone else did?
- Bosses care what you put online. If you think potential employers won’t Google you and look for any public social media accounts, you’re dead wrong. It’s common practice for hiring managers to look you up online, and needless to say, making your private life public isn’t very professional.
- You can’t trust everyone. Loose lips sink ships. Trust your family and your closest friends, but don’t spread your dirty laundry all over town. You never know whom it might get around to and the trouble it might cause.
