Snapchat has become one of the leading social media platforms for youth, and with it, many problems surround the teen scene. It seems like in the past ten years, dating in high school has gone from a forward act of asking someone out, taking them on a date and getting to know each other, to trying to understand someone’s intentions from a snap of their ceiling. What happened to the dating culture of our generation? It all started with the rise in popularity of the app Snapchat.

If you aren’t aware of what Snapchat is or how it works, to put it simply it’s an upgraded iMessage- you can add people as friends, snap them (send them a picture), text them, add stories, etc. But here’s where it gets personal- on Snapchat, you can see others’ snap score (how many snaps they’ve sent and received), if they’re active, their location and many other things that feel like a breach of your privacy. These aspects of the app are what make it a perfect breeding ground for relationship issues.

For example, let’s say someone has a significant other- they send their partner a snap and are left on delivered for four hours. They then check their partner’s location and see they were active on the app 20 minutes ago. This is where the issues start. All of a sudden, a simple connection of when and where creates a fictional why: the partner assumes their significant other is ignoring them, mad at them, doesn’t want to talk to them, etc. It is not that deep! Snapchat allows people to over-analyze and overthink simple situations in relationships when it’s completely unnecessary. If your significant other truly has an issue, it will be made clear. Basing emotions off of someone’s social media mannerisms is a path for disaster and must be taken out of a relationship before it’s too late.