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Easy cheating: Social media's dark side

The Internet is filled with former flings, eye popping photos and inquiring messages. And the glow of a phone can out shine almost any romantic candle light.

The Internet is filled with former flings, eye popping photos and inquiring messages. And the glow of a phone can out shine almost any romantic candle light.

"I’ve been at restaurants before where people are on Tinder at the table over and they’re on a date," said Heather Watts.

Eddy Torres and Areli Escalona met on Facebook. Now they’ve been together for two years.

“There’s goods and bads that come out of social media, luckily I got the good," Torres said.

So, how do you shield yourself, and your relationship, from drowning in the social media dark side?

It’s easy to be smitten with all the dings and zings of notifications. But for some couples, all the online attention can lead to seeking help at a spot like “My Happy Couple” in Sacramento’s Midtown.

“We see couples using it as a way to kind of numb out and it serves as a long distraction in relationships, in the amount of time people will spend online and not investing that same time into their relationship,” said Anna Osborn, a licensed marriage and family therapist.

The most important advice is to make your relationship the number one priority, and remember, you can always remove the distraction from your hands.

“Whether one night a week or certain hours of the day that there’s no phones allowed,” Osborn said. “No tablets – those sorts of things – and keeping the bedroom free of all screens, so that it’s really a place for sleep and connection.”

Also, make sure you’re visibly connected to your partner on social media sites. That can mean making your relationship status visible.

In most situations, you don’t need to go as far as having the password, after all trust is built on what you can't see. That being said if you suspect something is up, bring it up.

After all, who needs to "like" a picture when you can love the person holding your hand?

Osborn said couples usually experience a therapy worthy incident seven years before they ask for help. She suggests if couples need help, to seek it sooner rather than later from a professional therapist.

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