ADVICE: Keep distance from an ex on social media

He broke your heart.

She cheated on you.

You two broke up, so now what?

Back in the day of AOL Instant Messenger it was simple to cut off contact with your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend in the social media world. However, since then has come the birth and growth of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat. New social media users share information with a mass amount of people that can be tempting to look at. Keeping in touch with exes or “keeping tabs” becomes harder to deny and escape what ‘used to be.’

There is no need to fear the social media world. The following tips will get you back to your pre-ex life:

 

1.) Delete your ex off of ALL social media websites

No ifs, ands or buts about it. This is self-explanatory. If you cut ties in person, then it should apply to all types of social interaction as well.

 

2.) Block your ex on ALL social media websites

Take the deletion a step further by completely blocking your ex AND his or her circle of friends and family members. Typically the rule is if you cut ties with your ex, you cut ties with their associated relationships, too.

 

3.) Become invisible to your ex

If you feel like you absolutely cannot delete and block your ex then look for other, more subtle ways to gradually delete them from your social media world. If it’s Facebook, make your status updates and picture uploads visible to your friends and family only, not allowing them to be visible to your ex.

 

4.) Make a point, but don’t be obnoxious about it

If for whatever reason you and your ex are still friends in the online world but you want them to initiate the removal, it can be done subtly. By writing a Facebook status about a date you have could cause your ex to become annoyed and not want to see your life updates anymore. This approach can work effectively if you do not over-share. If you over-share it could cause harm to your reputation by coming off as immature, so be picky in what you publicly reveal, especially when the ex is still on your friends list.

 

5.) Avoid the urge to stalk your ex

Stalking your ex never results in satisfaction. It leads to the reminiscing of old memories or, in other cases, jealousy. You might think that asking your friends questions about your ex will help, but knowing what they have been up to will not change the relationship. These questions will make you seem like you are still holding onto something already gone. If you are friends with your ex, looking through their past posts can backfire. Accidentally liking their status from years ago is as easy as a slip of a finger and makes you look like a stalker. Whatever you do, do not make a fake profile to keep tabs on your ex. Doing that takes creepy to a whole new level that is not acceptable and not allowing you to move on.

 

It can be hard to break up with a person completely, especially with access to so many ways of social interactions. However, break-ups happen for a reason and if you follow the above tips to avoid your ex in the social media world, you can be on your way to finding someone new.