A recent TikTok of a podcast clip by @meangirlpod has been sparking conversation recently, posing a controversial question: Should you delete photos of you and your ex from your phone and social media pages?
Jordyn Woodruff, co-host of the podcast, shared that after she and her boyfriend of five years broke up, she deleted all their photos within a day. However, she said she regretted this decision.
“It was a huge slap in his face,” she admitted, adding that her ex felt hurt by her decision.
“It wasn’t a healthy coping mechanism,” she continued, saying that she should have waited to slowly delete the photos rather than getting rid of all of them immediately and at once.
Is Keeping Photos of Your Ex a Bad Thing?
According to Compare and Recycle’s Digital Declutter study, 24% of Brits have opted to actively delete pictures with their ex-partners. On the other hand, about 1 in 10 admitted to still having photos of their ex on their phone, despite having a new partner.
What’s more? Over half of Brits said they’d be upset if their partner kept photos of an ex, while a quarter said they “don’t mind.”
Kate Mansfield, dating and relationship coach, told Compare and Recycle that such cases depend on the particular relationship and the type of photos.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all rule, but context matters,” she said. “If it’s just an old photo buried in your camera roll that you never look at, that’s different from having a folder of cute couple pics you’re revisiting regularly.”
Regardless, this topic often stirs up problems within a relationship.
“It’s one of those issues that seems small on the surface but taps into deeper stuff—trust, insecurity, boundaries,” Mansfield said. “It comes up more than people expect, especially early in a relationship or during transitions like moving in together.”
Here’s What People Are Saying
In the comment section of the MEAN GIRL podcast, other individuals shared their perspectives on this matter. There were some varied responses.
Many people were strict about deleting their exes from their lives. Or, well, out of their phones.
“I waited a week and then deleted all of the pictures besides the ones that it was in a group pic,” one person said. “I only did it due to the nature of the relationship; it was very toxic, and it was somewhat fulfilling.”
Another added, “My earliest relationships, I’ve deleted all. Most recently, I only keep one, but none of us kissing in my camera roll just to respect my future partner.”
However, most of the responses fell somewhere in the middle.
“I deleted a lot of them, but also we did a lot of cool stuff and went a lot of places, so I kept some for sure!” someone wrote.
“I’m not deleting my whole life. Camera roll included,” another said. “Goes into a vault to hide, but I still want to see my life in pictures when I’m old! I think it’s crazy!”
“Archive is an option,” a third person added. “They don’t need to be gone forever, but when you decide to date again, future partners and their family shouldn’t have to see that stuff.”
However, one individual seemed to have no shame about their past—and zero intention to hide any of it.
“My past relationships reflect the life I’ve lived,” the person wrote. “No regrets, no filter. If the new girl has a problem with that, we should do more fun things and take our own photos. Write the new chapter.”
This is a personal decision, and there’s really no right or wrong. If you want to keep some photos to look back on when you’re older, I see nothing wrong with that.
However, if a relationship was abusive or ended in a form of betrayal, it’s natural to want to delete all evidence it ever existed.
To determine whether you should keep photos of your ex, KATE recommended asking yourself the following questions:
- “Do these images bring back happy memories, sad ones, or am I indifferent?”
- “If my partner saw these pictures, would I feel the need to explain or justify them?”
- “Am I holding on because I’m not fully over that chapter, or just because I haven’t thought to delete them?”
Your responses to these questions will tell you a lot about your intentions behind keeping or deleting the photos. However, the choice is ultimately yours.
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