Is The TikTok Loyalty Test Problematic? TikTok Creator Can Catch A Cheater
This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Lauren Sanchez. Find her on Instagram at @lauren.sanchezz. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Amid relationship cheating scandals circulating across the internet – from Ned Fulmer of The Try Guys Youtube group to Maroon 5’s frontman Adam Levine – a new trend on TikTok has couples everywhere testing their partner’s loyalty in their relationship. And no matter how secure these couples might think their relationship is, these tests have proven others VERY wrong.
The #LoyaltyTest trend on TikTok has over 1.5 billion views with thousands of videos and hundreds of verified influencers participating in the trend. With this widespread trend of testing your partner’s faithfulness on TikTok, questions and concerns about overall insecurities in relationships and why TikTokers are profiting off people’s misfortunes have been raised. While the videos may be entertaining to watch and are definitely made for the shock factor, the overarching problem of “If you need to do a test like this, is your relationship even solid at all?” needs to be answered. So without further ado, let’s dive deep into the purpose of these “loyalty tests” and why they are incredibly problematic and toxic for couples everywhere.
What Is A Loyalty Test Anyway?
The test is designed to see if you can catch your significant other “in the act” of talking to someone romantically or sexually. Whether it’d be on the streets in an interview done by a TikToker, a phone call made to your partner by a friend or paying a random influencer to send a DM on Instagram, the options to test their loyalty are endless.
The person who you ask to test your partner’s loyalty are meant to be incredibly flirtatious to your partner and/or ask them to hang out without you knowing. The test is successful if your partner either refuses to engage in the conversation, turns down the person immediately or acknowledges that they are already in a current relationship with someone. However, the test fails if your significant other lies about not being in a relationship and/or agrees to hang out with the said person in a more “private” manner.
TikTokers across the platform who have been coined to be good at catching cheaters and the overall loyalty game are actually being paid by people in relationships to test out the loyalty of their partners. Video proof has shown that TikTokers have been paid hundreds of dollars by people asking for their help, and some content creators have built a platform from being paid to do loyalty tests.
Why Would You Actually Want To Do A Loyalty Test?
If you’re curing up and brainstorming ideas to see if your partner is either cheating on you and/or truly faithful to you, chances are you might be insecure about your relationship and its future.
Cheating on a significant other is one of the main reasons why relationships break up and why people end up having trust and/or commitment issues when it comes to being in a relationship in the future. A 2021 survey by Health Testing Centers polled 441 people and reported a little over 46% of respondents in a monogamous relationship said they had affairs and 47.5% said they implemented new relationship rules to minimize the likelihood of cheating, such as sharing phone passwords.
While the idea of cheating may warrant suspicion from one partner, a good relationship built on open communication and basic trust is part of the foundation of a successful relationship. If your relationship doesn’t have either of those things before you commit to doing a loyalty test, you definitely need to reevaluate why you two are in the relationship in the first place. And putting your relationship through a test won’t address the root cause of your insecurity.
Address Doubts In Your Relationship The Right Way
A loyalty check can be toxic in a relationship since it can cause a divide between two people, where one partner can’t trust the other. And even then, it can be embarrassing and humiliating for the partner being subjected to the loyalty test as well. So how should you go about addressing the concerns in your relationship?
Well first off, don’t go straight to TikTok! Instead, talking to the person who you are in a relationship with would be the best place to start. Open communication and honesty are key to keeping a relationship alive and healthy. If you feel as if you can’t be open and candid about your feelings with your current partner in a safe manner, the relationship is already doomed and no loyalty test can save it. But if you feel comfortable with talking to your partner, bringing up your concerns can spark a conversation that can hopefully lead to solutions and more healthy ways to deal with potential conflicts.
And if you feel like you need a moderator to be a guiding force in your relationship, don’t reach out to a TikToker– let alone pay for an influencer for relationship advice. Instead, if problems are occurring, reach out to relationship counselors who have actual degrees in psychology and are licensed and trained to deal with these kinds of issues.
Loyalty Tests Are A Waste of Time, Period.
This trend is incredibly problematic and unhealthy in the way that TikTokers are profiting off the failures of someone else’s relationships and how couples are unable to find healthy ways to target insecurities and doubts in their relationships. The fact that people are genuinely paying influencers to test your relationship still shocks me– and it’s a disgusting side hustle that these TikTokers should be ashamed of for participating in.
Not only do these sorts of tests put partners to shame, but it creates a certain type of awkwardness in your relationship that you can’t ever come back from. So the next time you are questioning a certain aspect of your relationship and/or suspect that your partner may be unfaithful towards you, don’t seek advice or a “test” from the internet. Instead, have a mature face-to-face conversation and do things without the influence of social media creeping up behind you.
How do you feel about the TikTok loyalty test? Do you think they’re genius or completely unethical? Let us know in the comments below!