The Digital Relationship
Refresh, repeat. Refresh, repeat. The social media post-breakup ritual that consumed my life. His name was Kevin and he was a complete asshole.
Fast forward four months later and I had my first real boyfriend. Who would have thought my double date would turn into a relationship, I know my awkward fifteen year old self sure did not. I fell hard, he walked me to class every period of every day, never forgetting to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek before parting ways. I had even changed my facebook relationship status and profile picture to him. FBO (Facebook Official) was a big deal at the time. Validating your relationship and your man to all of the girls in school, the self pride you got out of seeing his name with the little heart under your profile. Ridiculously cheesy, ridiculously immature. Nonetheless, mandatory in the realm of high school gossip.
My day began with either a text from Kevin from the night before, he had probably been up late studying or a good morning text, one that I would respond to almost immediately. I slept with my phone under my pillow so that as soon as I woke up I would be able to roll over and check for any notifications from him. Then throughout my day there was constant communication, texting every second of every hour of every day. Even though he was five hours away I knew what he was doing at all times. Letting each other know if we went to class, the library, ate lunch, took a shower, hung out with friends, etc. There was not a part of our lives that the other wasn’t filled in on. That is, until it stopped.
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As the year came to an end my Taylor Swift Love Story boyfriend would be going off to college and leaving me behind to finish my senior year. Being the hopeless naive romantic that I was, I had no doubt that our relationship would be maintained despite the five hour distance between us. Kevin attended The University of Virginia, which is five hours away from our home town. This is when the digital age and social media took over my life. I knew that long distance would not be an easy task but I did not realize how much I would rely on my cellphone for EVERYTHING. Texting, calling, skyping, facetiming, snapchat, facebook messenger, and so many more outlets had become apart of my daily routine. I was living my life through the screen of my cellphone.
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