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Yikes.
By Tomás Diniz Santos — Written on Jun 08, 2021
The social media platform known as TikTok is the hub for trends and new videos that spark great ideas.
They do also spark bad ideas sometimes, too.
Most recently, a new trend has garnered millions of views that consists of teenagers and young adults pursuing “toxic” behavior in their relationships on purpose and marketing this as advice.
The poor relationship advice shared by TikTok users can affect the mental health of people who are consuming their content online.
The hashtag #toxicrelationship on TikTok has over 1.3 billion views and it’s still growing.
Although there is some actually good advice to be found on the app, it’s lost in the sea of poor videos advocating for toxicity in relationships.
Here are 8 toxic TikTok relationship advice trends you should not follow (please).
1. “Cheat just in case.”
This piece of advice was posted as a TikTok by a user who suggests that women who find their significant other to be shady or suspect them of cheating should go out and cheat as well.
The reasoning is that if at some point the woman finds out, in fact, the significant other was disloyal then the woman shouldn’t feel too bad since they “cheated just in case.”
This is the TikTok user's advice as opposed to talking it out with your partner and having a genuine conversation about bettering the relationship.
2. “You shouldn’t text first because it’s desperate.”
A TikTok user suggests that women should not text first because it is the man’s job to do so.
She also says that it shows signs of desperation and implies that you’re prioritizing the man and that’s “bad.”
In reality, people who have feelings for someone and like them should text them. If they don’t respond or mess around then move on.
3. “Send mixed signals.”
A TikTok user suggests sending mixed signals to create a manipulative relationship where you can hold “the power.”
The user says that creating mental games and confusing the other allows you to get your way.
This toxic relationship advice can create really poor mental health environment, and potentially cause someone to think negative thoughts like “I’m not good enough” or “I’m not worthy to be in a relationship,” which can be very harmful.
4. “Be sporadic with your text replies.”
This Tiktok user says that a good way of making someone fall in love with you is by spacing and randomizing your text replies.
This user suggests replying quickly and also waiting hours to make them sweat and become attached.
This can in actuality create a poor relationship environment and negatively affect the mental health of the other person.
5. “Drop her if she uses the dog filter.”
A TikTok user suggests that guys should “drop” their girlfriend or loved one if they use filters like the puppy filter on Snapchat.
The reason suggested is that it’s fake and they are trying to look good for someone.
This toxic idea implies that women can’t enjoy a puppy filter and look “cute” or good for themselves.
6. “Keep searching your ex on Instagram”
A TikTok user posted a video that shows a smashed-up iPhone with the caption that reads “keep searching your ex on Instagram.”
The user is implying that he or she broke their significant other’s smartphone because they were looking up their ex.
Looking up an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend on social media behind your significant other's back might create trust issues and a toxic relationship, but controlling behavior like monitoring a partner's phone activity can border on abuse.
7. “Track their phone’s location.”
Although many use this feature for safety reasons, this TikTok user suggests going on their significant other’s phone without them knowing to track their loved one.
This creates trust issues for both people as they will always be wary of each other's activities.
8. “Try a cheating test on them”
Several TikTok users have given this piece of “advice” suggesting to direct message your significant other via a fake account to test their loyalty.
This creates an unnecessary conflict and there are better ways to discover your significant other’s loyalty.
Tomás Diniz Santos is a writer living in Orlando, Florida. He covers news, entertainment and pop-culture.