SOCIAL MEDIA AND INFIDELITY IN MARRIAGE VIS-À-VIS CCC 2380: A MORAL-THEOLOGICAL STUDY OF IGBO CHRISTIAN FAMILIES, NIGERIA

Abstract

Family, established through marriage, is the smallest unit of every society. Marriage, however, being the union of a man and woman to become life partners, is faced with a myriad of challenges. These challenges and hurdles range from a lack of mutual understanding, respect, and trust between couples to intolerance and even infidelity. There are many more. Nowadays, marriage is being plagued, more than ever, with issues and cases of infidelity arising from and/or heightened by the use of social media. The link, connectivity, and relative privacy provided by social networks like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, and so on seem to have escalated and complicated the problem of infidelity in marriage. As a result, mutual suspicion and acrimony have increased just as infidelity is increasing between couples. This work, therefore, is an improvement and enrichment of the already ongoing discourse on the subject matter of infidelity in marriage. It serves to expose the situation on the ground and to stimulate/trigger further research on the topic of discourse.