Nowadays, romance is viewed extremely differently than it was in the past, and social media is largely at fault.
Social media was initially meant to be a place where people could connect, and it still is, but it has twisted the way that people view relationships, love, and even themselves. Platforms like TikTok, X, and Instagram have warped affection into performance, intimacy into clout, and genuine connection into a competition for attention.
One of the most frustrating parts about social media is the rise of toxic slang that refers to women negatively. Terms like “huzz” or “bops” have emerged from social media subcultures where disrespect is normalized for likes or laughs, while the term “b*****s” has emerged as one of these commonly used words despite originating from the early fifteenth century.
“Huzz” is used in a less negative way than the other two terms, being used to talk about a person that someone is “into” or seeks a relationship with. The word’s purpose is still to belittle women, even if it isn’t used maliciously. The term “b******s”, which quite literally means “female dog”, is used in the same way as huzz but has more malicious intent behind the use.
Now, the most negative term for women originating from social media is “bop,” which people use to talk about women who move on from relationships quickly. The term is supposed to shame women for behavior that men are often praised for, revealing a double standard.
These terms reflect on a deeper cultural decline: social media has normalized misogyny disguised as humor.
Social media algorithms that favor controversy and this has created a large increase in toxic masculinity. One of the largest influences on social media that impacted this was Andrew Tate, an influencer who created a platform based on negative ideologies covered as “self-improvement”.
Tate has been banned from most platforms besides X. His time of popularity and relevance was during 2022, when he gained popularity for preaching about dominance, emotional detachment, and contempt for women.
Tate single-handedly created a generation of men who claim personas of dominance and think that women are inferior to men.
This toxicity doesn’t just harm women; it poisons romance as a whole. When the societal norm views vulnerability as weakness and women as adversaries, then emotional intimacy becomes impossible, whether online or not.
Furthermore, constant access to the internet has fueled jealousy and insecurity. People have been checking who someone follows, what videos they like, or even seeing if a message has been read or delivered. This creates mistrust and anxiety.
When people rely on social media to communicate, relationships turn transnational, where validation comes in the form of likes or views instead of trust and understanding.
Direct messages (DMs) and dating apps can further complicate relationships, reducing romance to a swipe left or right, filters, and temporary dopamine hits.
The introduction of social media into society changed the entire world, and it doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down, with social media already changingrelationshipspThere’sss no telling what else may change in the future.