All over the internet, there’s been an increase in people normalizing, and even romanticizing, toxic relationships. These days, people seem to have a certain ‘desperation’ to be in a relationship. They’ll go to such unnecessary lengths to have and maintain a significant other, even if their partner is temporary. 

All over TikTok and other forms of social media, you’ll see “POVs” (Point of view) or written scenarios, and lots of upcoming books that feature toxic relationships. People will write paragraphs on TikTok about having an extremely over protective or abusive boyfriend, and romanticize it for other people who feel the same way as the writer. Although writing books based on a toxic relationship may seem to have a good plot, this can be very unhealthy and can set a bad mindset for the reader. It becomes a particular problem when younger kids are on the internet absorbing this media. Kids can start being more likely to enter a relationship that’s bad when they are older, since they’ve been put into a mindset that toxic relationships are something good, since everybody else seems to desire one.

People desire a partner who will be overprotective of them to the point of violence. Online, people will even reveal how they wish they had someone willing to murder another person out of pure jealousy. If you’re thinking that this sounds incredibly absurd, it definitely is. However, that doesn’t make it untrue. As if the situation isn’t already bad enough, some people can take things too literally, and could be influenced by hearing online users say this is the type of relationship they want. Normally, people who are defined as “attention seekers” just strive for attention due to child neglect of some form, and it manifests its way into future relationships. This will leave you with an obsessive ex, perhaps even a stalker. Although it may not seem like an enormous problem at the moment, romanticizing toxic and unhealthy relationships, in person or on social media, can have a very unsuccessful effect on you and your environment.