How Facebook Complicates Estranged Family Relationships - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.
Being cut-off by a family member is hard enough to process, but does our social media world make it harder?
Back before Facebook and Twitter, a severed family relationship could be just that – severed.
With today’s media, people are often privy to news about their alienated family members through third parties and this can cause painful reminders of what they have lost.
Estrangement in families is sometimes more painful than a death, “because when they are estranged from you, they aren’t gone,” states Vera Shelby, director of Healing Estranged Relationships. Adding the capability to sneak views at their messages and photos can add to the heartache and to the underlying issue of separation.
Why not just close the account and prevent the pain? One estranged mother, afraid of closing her Facebook account, says, “In a weird way, I feel I can make some sort of connection even if it’s through a glass screen.”
On the other hand, sometimes social media can begin to heal some of those relationships as well. In some cases, taking the risk to reach out to an estranged relative can have positive results and create forgiveness and new beginnings.
Would you be willing to take the risk?
