Somewhere along the way, public love became a liability. It’s not that we’re ashamed of romance, we’re just painfully aware that men are statistically likely to humiliate you. And who wants to go from “it girl” to “poor girl” in a single news cycle?

Forerunner Ventures’ Kirsten Green , Into the Gloss co-founder Nick Axelrod (now at UTA Ventures), or Emily’s former assistant, Morgan Von Steen

Either way, the consequences are what people think of you. While that used to be none of our business, now we have numerical, public-facing proof. As Joseph writes, “When author and British Vogue contributor Stephanie Yeboah hard-launched her boyfriend on social media, she lost hundreds of followers.”