The Divorce Selfie A New Internet Trend: Couples Take Smiling Selfies Holding Divorce Documents

I recently had a friend who posted a “divorce selfie” online to announce her divorce with her husband. In the photo, you see the couple smiling as they hold their divorce documents in their hands.

The couple notes, the selfie is intended to show that the couple is ready to move forward in a positive fashion without awkwardness for those who are friends with both individuals. The words placed with the divorce selfie were poignant.

“We made the decision to post this last selfie to help everyone involved in our lives…move on with no awkwardness about who can be friends with who or how to handle future conversations. Today our divorce is final and to some that may be a huge surprise since we kept our separation up to this point a private matter, outside of our very close friends and family. We both move on with a deep faith in God and family and every step forward will be a step to co parent in the most effective and loving way for our children. Thank you in advance to all of our friends and family that love and support us unconditionally.”

They received a lot of support as a result of the photo, but also a lot of doubt about the smiling faces shown in the photos. Some wondered how a person could be smiling after living a life together so long and then calling it quits. However, the couple was adamant that they are prepared to move forward in a positive fashion for both their children and friends.

Surprisingly, they are not the first couple to post a smiling divorce selfie. In fact, it seems to be somewhat of a trend among those divorcing on decent terms. Buzzfeed recently reported on a Florida couple who posted a public divorce selfie on Instagram. At the time, they noted it may be the world’s first divorce selfie, but it appears it may just be the first public divorce selfie. Keith and Michelle Hinson were the smiling divorce selfie couple.

“We are officially un-married. Here’s to the most friendly, respectful, and loving split imaginable. We smile not because it’s over, but because it happened,” Hinson wrote on his Instagram.

Hinson told The Huffington Post:

“Michelle and I have a good sense of humor about this. And we also wanted to let people know that this didn’t have to be a negative experience. We are choosing to move forward with love. We’ve been separated a year, and throughout that time, we’ve both been committed to preserving our friendship.”

However, not all couples who have taken a divorce selfie are happy about their decision. A writer for Thought Catalog notes that her divorce selfie is now a cause of pain. Monica Bielanko says that when she and her husband decided to split, they took a last minute separation selfie that Monica know looks back on.

“We met at the door and after stilted conversation, one of us (probably me) jokingly suggested a ‘separation selfie‘ to commemorate the occasion. We meant it as a joke. An ironic commentary about the world’s obsession with documenting every living, breathing moment. I posted it on Instagram and Facebook with the caption ‘Awkward Separation Moving Day Selfie’ and never meant for it to be taken seriously.

“But now, when I look at that photo, I don’t laugh. Even though it was a kind of half-as*** joke, the pain and sadness seep through the original intentions and knuckle me right in the solar plexus. The selfie shows two people slogging through the worst time in their lives, trying to make the best of it, but also wondering what the f*** happened here.”

What do you think of the divorce selfie? Is it a good way to show you are moving on in a positive fashion, or do you think the couple will look back on the photo and regret the decision to photograph that particular time in their life?

[Image Credit: Keith Hinson Instagram]