Social Media Prenup, Wait What?!

Social media has become an integral part of our lives, especially the millennials and the younger generations. In fact, studies by Mediakix shows that an average person spends ~2 hours per day on various social media channels. This number is staggering given that an average person is projected to spend a total of 5 years and 4 months in his or her lifetime in social media. See the infographics below for the breakdown.

Given this fact, social media can have meaningful impacts on one’s relationship. Have you ever feel frustrated that your significant other’s nose buried in Facebook app? Is one of you obsessed with Snapchat or Instagram? For many, social media could be so tempting and addictive that it causes problems between couples. Alternatively, the type of information shared in social media can also cause rifts between couples. For example, revenge porn pictures and videos can significantly harm one’s future and reputation.

With these growing concerns, more and more couple in Americas are adding social media clauses in their prenuptial agreement. Examples of these clauses include rules governing the types of information or photos that can be shared, type of accounts that should be accessible to the significant other, permission to share or upload photos, ban on revenge porn, and many more. See a full example of social media prenup drafted by Fusion here.

In my opinion, it is truly sad that technology advancement has this type of un-intended side effects. One could easily argue that if couples have to use these clauses to control each other’s social media behavior, there may be something wrong with the relationship. However, one’s future and reputation are also at stake, which may justify the paranoia.

Readers, what do you think of social media prenup? Do you think it’s ridiculous? Or the way society lives forces us to be on the defensive side?

Sources:

http://www.adweek.com/digital/mediakix-time-spent-social-media-infographic/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10878353/What-the-hell-is-a-social-media-pre-nup-and-would-you-ever-sign-one.html

http://fusion.kinja.com/we-wrote-you-a-social-media-prenup-youre-welcome-1793854173