Love has altered. Today's relationships are not the same as those of our parents or grandparents. In the past, love was formed through in-person talks, handwritten letters, and real-life experiences. However, social media has taken over. Platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat have totally altered how we perceive relationships. While social media unites people, it also fosters false romantic expectations. As a result, half of our age is heartbroken, unable to find or sustain genuine love.

How Social Media Fosters Unrealistic Love Expectations Social media portrays love as ideal, beautiful, and effortless. Couples share romantic getaways, extravagant gifts, and picture-perfect dates. However, we do not see the battles, misunderstandings, or daily hardships.

Example from movies: Crazy Rich Asians (2018) is a great example of how social media influences love expectations. In the movie, Rachel Chu (played by Constance Wu) discovers that her boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding), is super rich. She sees a world full of luxury, grand gestures, and social media-worthy moments. But behind the glamour, there are family pressures, insecurities, and heartbreaks. This is similar to how social media makes love look glamorous while hiding the real struggles.
The Pressure to Be "Instagram-Worthy" Young couples today feel pressure to make their relationships look perfect online. They stage romantic moments just for pictures, edit their photos, and write long captions about how much they love each other. But in reality, many of these relationships are struggling. This pressure leads to insecurity and comparison.

Example from movies: In The Fault in Our Stars (2014), Hazel and Gus have a beautiful love story. Their love is deep, emotional, and filled with real struggles. If they were on social media, people might only see their cute dates and smiles. But in reality, they deal with cancer, loss, and emotional pain. This shows how real love is messy and imperfect, unlike what social media often portrays.
Ghosting, Breadcrumbing, and the Digital Heartbreak Social media has also made breakups more painful. Before social media, if a relationship ended, you could move on without constantly seeing your ex's life. But now, their posts, new relationships, and happy moments pop up on your feed, making it harder to heal.
New dating trends like "ghosting" (disappearing without explanation) and "breadcrumbing" (giving false hope) have made relationships confusing and painful. These behaviors come from the ease of social media—it’s easy to ignore messages or play mind games when you don’t have to face someone in real life.

Example from movies: Someone Great (2019) is a perfect example of modern digital heartbreak. The main character, Jenny, is left heartbroken after her long-term boyfriend breaks up with her. Throughout the movie, she struggles to move on while seeing his posts on social media. This is exactly what many people go through today—social media makes it hard to escape past relationships.
The Rise of Influencer Love and False Standards Influencer couples create an illusion of the "perfect relationship." They showcase grand proposals, matching outfits, and luxurious gifts, making people believe that love should always look like this. But behind the scenes, many influencer relationships are fake or filled with problems.

Example from movies: Notting Hill (1999) explores the idea of dating someone famous. When William (Hugh Grant) falls for superstar Anna (Julia Roberts), their love faces struggles due to media attention. Similarly, today’s influencer culture puts relationships under public pressure, making them more stressful and less real.
The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Endless Choices Social media makes people believe that something better is always out there. Dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge have created an endless pool of options. This leads to "the paradox of choice" where people struggle to commit because they believe someone better might be just one swipe away.

Example from movies: La La Land (2016) beautifully shows how choices impact relationships. Mia and Sebastian deeply love each other, but their careers and ambitions take them in different directions. Social media adds another layer to this—people constantly see "better" options online, making it harder to settle down.

While social media has changed love expectations, it doesn’t mean real love is dead. It means we must be more aware of its effects. Real relationships take effort, communication, and understanding—not just Instagram-worthy pictures.

To save love, we need to:

Stop comparing our relationships to social media couples.

Communicate openly with our partners instead of relying on texting or DMs.

Take breaks from social media to focus on real-life connections.

Accept that love is imperfect and not always glamorous.

Love is not about likes, comments, or viral moments. It’s about genuine connection, effort, and patience. If we separate social media illusions from reality, we can still find and keep true love.