Once upon a time, love was a personal matter. It existed in shy glances, genuine laughter, and cosy date nights. But somewhere between the rise of Instagram and the professionalisation of influencer culture, relationships stopped being private partnerships and became public portfolios. Now, it is all about Instagram-official posts, coordinated captions, soft launches escalating into hard launches, and relationships unfolding in real time for an audience of millions. Public Display of Relationships (PDR) has become the currency of modern romance, particularly among influencers, where intimacy often doubles as content. But is this PDR killing intimacy in the name of relatability?

The commercialisation of love

From date nights to grocery shopping, some content creators seem to document every moment of their love lives. But unfortunately, many of these public unions end abruptly. Beauty and lifestyle influencer Malvika Sitlani married her long-time partner, Akhil Aryan, in 2020. Akhil was a recurring character on her feed. Birthday tributes, anniversary posts, and couples’ holidays were meticulously documented for the gram. But two years later, in 2023, they got divorced. So is the case with fashion vlogger Kritika Khurana. She also regularly shared moments from her relationship online; however, it ended in divorce just six months after the wedding.

Influencer relationships are rarely just relationships. They are brands, narratives, monetisable arcs. In fact, relationship content is one of the most lucrative niches on Instagram in India. So, the pressure to maintain the illusion becomes overwhelming because breaking up doesn’t just mean losing a partner; it means dismantling a carefully constructed brand narrative. None of this is inherently cynical, as after all, visibility is part of the job description. But when affection is constantly witnessed, validated and consumed, the relationship can begin to feel less like a private bond and more like a public performance.

This is not to say that posting about your partner isn’t a good thing, but documenting every second you spend with them might not be the best thing for your relationship. Many studies done on relationship satisfaction say the same. A study done by the University of Kansas concluded that people who posted more often about their partners experienced a lower level of satisfaction in their relationship.

The rebrand of romance

In stark contrast, some of the most celebrated and culturally resonant celebrity relationships of recent years have been defined by privacy. Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma kept their relationship largely out of the public eye until their wedding. So did Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani, and Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif. If you think about it, these are the most appreciated relationships in Indian pop culture right now. This shift mirrors a broader cultural mood of yearning for that old-school love. As Vogue recently said, “having a boyfriend is embarrassing now”, there is a growing discomfort with introducing your partner to the public. Being overly earnest, overly public, overly lovey-dovey online can feel outdated. Cool, it seems, now lies in “keep it private until it’s permanent”.

So, to answer the question: Is PDR sabotaging our relationships? Suggesting that public display of relationships alone causes relationships to fail would be both unfair and oversimplifying. Divorce, after all, is not a moral failure, nor is it unique to influencer culture. What PDR may do, however, is amplify pressure and create jealousy. We may be witnessing a recalibration rather than a rejection. Romance is not disappearing from our feeds; it is just becoming more private.

As data shows, it’s better to keep your relationship private to be genuinely happy in love.

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