When asked, many of us would say trust is the crux of any relationship.
Especially in college environments where good-looking guys and girls who seem to always be in "go-mode" surround us, it isn't always easy to control a wondering eye.
Why stay with someone if you're constantly worrying about what they are doing, who they are talking to?
Some couples are taking steps to build this element of their relationship even more by sharing passwords - passwords to e-mail, social media accounts and even banking credentials.
According to a recent Pew study, 67 percent of Internet users in a marriage or committed relationship have shared the password to one or more of their online accounts with their spouse or partner.
Though a small portion of Miami University students are actually married, a significant amount of young adults in committed relationships are sharing their social media or e-mail account passwords with each other. Why? To increase trust, the study reports.
Though couples may believe sharing passwords with each other will boost trust in their relationship, The Miami Student editorial board challenges that idea.
To some of us, trust is defined as being comfortable enough to know - or at least believe - your significant other isn't going to do anything to violate your trust; two people who trust one another do not have anything to prove.
That is why the concept of sharing passwords with your significant other under the guise of trust doesn't make sense to us.
Social media is literally becoming an extension of our lives, and that much is pretty much irreversible at this point.
With that said, Facebook password sharing, for example, allows someone to see your private interaction with other people online.
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As humans, we need some amount of personal space and privacy, especially in a world where that privacy is becoming less available.
Social media passwords are almost like the last frontier in online privacy.
To have a functional, healthy relationship, couples need somewhere or some way to be alone, even if it's as simple as logging on to Facebook with a key combination no one else knows.
Being okay with that is trust and sharing passwords is not indicative to a trusting relationship.
There is a hierarchy when it comes to account passwords. For instance, sharing your Netflix password may not be as serious a feat as, say, sharing your Facebook password.
And sharing your Facebook credentials is a lot less serious than giving out your bank account pin.
The editorial board has noticed that this day and age couples are constantly trying to "take the next step."
Especially in college, when many of us are in relatively serious relationships, couples who seem to want to take that next step but don't really want to move in together or get married, think that password sharing could suffice as that step.
But in reality, we think that complicates things.
A line should be drawn when it comes to privacy and trust in a relationship.
The editorial board thinks sharing passwords, with the exception of Netflix of course, crosses that line.
Independent, mature and happy people make the best partners and that does not depend on knowing each other's passwords. Even though at first it may seem like refusing to give out a social media password may hinder the relationship, it will actually just hurt it more.
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