Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Jephazia Townsend
Ms. Caruso
UWRT 1103
4 April 2017
In today's society social media has become a huge factor in how we engage in human
interaction. The usage of social networking sites has spread across a variety of demographics
such as age, location, and how often people use social media. With the usage of social media it is
very common for people to share a lot of details about their relationships on social media where
seven-in-ten Americans use social media to connect with one another (Social Media Fact
Sheet). Some of the reasons people use social sites is to communicate, collaborate, build brands,
share media, and entertainment (Social Media and Its Uses). On the topic of relationships, people
use social media sites for a number of specific reasons that could potentially hurt the relationship
that are in. Whether the relationship is platonic or romantic the items that are posted to these sites
can influence the perception of the person who posted them and affect those who view the posts.
The result can be a lack of communication and a lack of in-person social interaction causing a
The goal that is aimed to be achieved is to bring forth awareness of how social media
specifically affects romantic relationships. To accomplish this task I created a social awareness
video to inform the general population of the influence that their involvement on social media
may cause. In synopsis the video will be a representation of what a relationship may look like in
todays society and how it is changed as different factors are introduced which are caused by
Townsend 2
social media participation. The perception of the video may appear to be satirical as it is
designed to keep the audience engaged. It shows that people are so attached to their social media
pages that they lose interest in their partner and the two begin to drift apart. This videos
intended audience is any person who engages in social media interaction, whether they are
currently in a relationship or not the information could still be useful in informing them to be
mindful of how attached they are to their social accounts and to take caution before they post.
The video will be displayed on various sites over the internet, such as Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and Tumblr, it can also be located as an ad on dating sites to give people a word of
advice when getting into a new relationship. I would also like it to have the ability to be shared to
allow the message to spread and potentially go viral, or reach enough people to possibly make a
This video will start with an intro thumbnail that has a picture of an evil cellphone with
devil like characteristics in the center and two halfs of a broken heart on either side. At the top is
the title How Social Media Ruins Relationships. I decided to add this beginning thumbnail to
catch the attention of the audience when they are scrolling on their pages and because of the
amount of red placed on a white background, It gets peoples attention and it holds it, which is
why its the most popular color for marketing (Morris). Next the video introduces one of the
main characters, Tommy. When deciding how to approach creating this video I decided to use
characters to give the audience a story to relate to rather than just a list of facts and statistics.
Then it will proceed to say that he used to be in a happy relationship with Holly, and say that
they broke up because of social media. The video will show some scenes of what their
relationship could have looked like by showing the couple smiling, talking with each other,
Townsend 3
going on dates, and taking walks on the beach, which may be seen by the audience as typical
couple-like activities, but then ends when the video clearly states that their relationship lacked
these intimate moments. In researching about important key factors for a relationship I
discovered that a relationship needs intimacy. Regardless of whether it's a physical intimacy or
an emotional intimacy, your relationship will slowly wither and die without it (Can a
Relationship Survive). So I felt, it was important to show that Tommy and Holly lacked this
intimacy in their relationship because they were too engaged in social media, which like the
However, I do not mention the ending of their relationship in the beginning of the video
but instead build upon the story to keep the audience wanting to know what comes next. The
video then introduces Tommys engagement with Facebook and Hollys engagement with
Instagram. The video explains that the couple appeared to be happy on their social media pages.
However, in my research I found that that couples who post often about their relationships are
more likely to be feeling insecure (Study Shows That Couples). This piece of information hints
at the next event in the story when Holly checks on Tommys page and finds something that she
feels is inappropriate. This gets into the one of the reasons people post their relationships on
social media, that reason being for the likes and reassuring comments from others. It is very
popular to see on social media many couples that appear happy to be labeled as relationship
goals however, the audience has no clue of what goes on beyond the cute pictures they see on
the internet.
Behind the cute pictures thes video states that social media is a gateway to a lot of
problems in relationships such as jealousy, infidelity, and a lack of communication and sources
Townsend 4
(Becker-Phelps). When Holly sees the innapropriate content on Tommys page she never
addresses the situation with Tommy and they both just post about their problems on social
media. In most relationships there will always be some elements of jealousy or a slight power
struggle for whos in control of the relationship. However, when social media is involved the
level of jealousy is more likely to increase. This can be due to the fact of posting pictures with
other people, posting a certain idea that could be perceived the wrong way, the way an outside
force addresses or compliments a partner, and a host of other minute issues that could be easily
avoided. These small issues are why social media and technology combined are slowly
becoming the number one cause of problems and arguments in relationships (The Impact of
Social Media).
The video will then begin to summarize by explaining that Tommy and Holly never
worked out their problems and went their separate ways. To wrap the theme back into the video I
add in a section urging people to limit their social media usage and get connected with the
people in their life. Human interaction in reality is much more beneficial than online
relationships and can have a much bigger effect than the online ones.
Townsend 5
Works Cited
Original sources:
"Getting Caught by a Catfish Www.loveisrespect.org." Www.loveisrespect.org. N.p., 06 Nov.
2015. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.
Hare, Breeanna. "How Technology Has Changed Romance." CNN. Cable News Network, 12
Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.
Zepeda, Himay. "Why You Should Write Love Letters." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Aug. 2014. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.
"3 New Shorts! Technology Ruins Romance - Wong Fu Productions." Wong Fu Productions 3
New Shorts Technology Ruins Romance Comments. N.p., 9 Feb. 2010. Web. 15 Feb.
2017.
New sources:
Becker-Phelps, Leslie, PhD. "10 Essential Factors for a Healthy Relationship Relationships."
WebMD. WebMD, 29 Sept. 2011. Web. 7 Apr. 2017.
"Can a Relationship Survive without Intimacy?" Counselling Directory. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr.
2017.
"Can a Relationship Survive without Intimacy?" Counselling Directory. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr.
2017.
Dmingthing. ""Relationship Status: Online" (Short Film)." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Oct. 2015.
Web. 7 Apr. 2017.
"The Impact Of Social Media On Relationships." Relationship Rules. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr.
2017.
Morris, Brian. "10 Colors That Increase Sales, and Why." Business 2 Community. N.p., n.d.
Web. 9 Apr. 2017.
"Romance and Love in Today's Society: Alive or Dead?" Odyssey. N.p., 13 Feb. 2017. Web. 7
Apr. 2017.
"7 Things You Need to Know About Relationships." Odyssey. N.p., 20 Feb. 2017. Web. 7 Apr.
2017.
"Social Media and Its Uses." Liquid Light. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2017.
"Social Media Fact Sheet." Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. N.p., 12 Jan. 2017.
Web. 7 Apr. 2017.
"Study Shows That Couples That Post About Themselves On Social Media Are More Likely To
Break Up." Viral Thread. N.p., 15 Jan. 2017. Web. 9 Apr. 2017.
"10 Reasons Why I Hate Dating In 2017." Odyssey. N.p., 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 7 Apr. 2017.