Often, conversations and interactions on the internet turn out to be quite engaging and thought-provoking, like the recent discussion on Twitter about whether the institution of marriage is a failure in the 21st century.

Divorce has replaced death in modern times as the most common endpoint for marriage, for the first time in human history. For centuries, marriage has been considered an obvious milestone in life, but its inevitability has been questioned by many across the globe over the past few decades.

Besides divorce, there are many other challenges to marriage, especially in light of alternatives like cohabitation. But does that mean that marriage is an outdated institution? A similar question was posed on Twitter: “Is the institution of marriage a failure in the 21st century?”. The replies that followed were of all kinds and meaty.

Here are a few great responses:

A user blamed the deteriorating values on social media for creating an ‘unrealistic perception’ of marriage.

According to another user, love cannot be the only thing to make a marriage work. “A marriage requires commitment and understanding to work.”

“The depiction in Hollywood of what marriage is is messing with people’s minds. People need to wake up and realize that marriage requires work,” read a response. “Requires patience, understanding, compromise, forgiveness, control over emotions and impulses. There are 2 sides to every marriage.”

A netizen emphasized that it is rather the institution of ‘working through problems’ that appear to be a failure in modern times. ‘Or is it just this side of the internet?’

“No. Institutions don’t fail. The people in them do.”

One user noted that the concept of morality has been ‘trashed’, so ‘no surprise about marriage’.

Another user listed a few things one must ensure before marrying.

What do you think?

Cover image via @Unsplash