When Is Too Soon To Debut Your Relationship On Instagram? This Is What Experts Suggest

“Best of Elite Daily” stream in the Bustle AppIf you're dating someone new, you might be thinking about when should you post about your relationship on Instagram. It's only natural — this is the way a lot of us announce our relationships nowadays, and it can be awkward to do it prematurely, when the relationship is still in the very early stages. You don't necessarily want to have that awkward announces-relationship-then-breaks-up-and-deletes-photos-immediately situation, or post pictures before you're ready to actually fess up about your dating life to other people you know.

Because once you post, people will certainly ask questions. Who's that person? Are you a couple? How long have you been together? How did you meet? These are all surely to come up once you post you and your partner on the 'gram, so it's something to think about beforehand.

I spoke with Anita A. Chlipala, LMFT and author of First Comes Us: The Busy Couple's Guide to Lasting Love about debuting a relationship on Instagram.

Firstly, she says that two people in a relationship can have opposing opinions on the importance of posting on social media accounts.

"Some of my clients have fought over social media because one partner applies the meaning that the other doesn't care about them because of the lack of posting – for example, cropping him or her out of their profile picture," Chlipala tells Elite Daily. I know if my significant other cropped me out of a profile picture, there would be a little conversation about that for sure.

"You want to discuss your expectations before you start posting so that you're not taking things personally and getting unnecessarily hurt later on in your relationship," she adds.

Chlipala says that once you and your partner reach the level of calling one another partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever – then that is a "good" time to make things Instagram official. There isn't an actual time stamp on this milestone, it's whenever you and your partner reach it. If you wait too long to post on Instagram, she cautions, someone's feelings could get hurt. Depending on how your partner prioritizes social media, they may think if you don't post about them once you're officially in a relationship, that your level of commitment to them may be different than their commitment to you.

Before your first post, and after you're officially in a relationship, double check with your partner that they're OK with you sharing a specific photo on social media. There may be some moments they want to keep private, so it's best to check in with what they're OK sharing with the world.

So after you and your SO officially define the relationship, and are comfortable calling each other that to other people, that's a pretty good indicator that you can post a picture of you two on Instagram. At that point, your friends and family probably know who that person is in your life, and not many will be surprised. At that point, make sure your first picture is one you love since it will be an announcement of sorts, and have a quintessentially-you caption to match. Happy posting, tagging, and caption-writing to all you lovebirds out there.

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