"Insta-love": Couple falls in love via Instagram feeds
Experts are always arguing over the value of social media. Does it bring people together? Push them apart? Leave them bitter or blissful? They can study it as much as they like in scientific settings, but a newlywed couple is giving the edge to those who say social media brings people together.
Let's call it "Insta-love": Robin Coe and Matthew Fleming actually managed to fall in love just by randomly following each other's Instagram feeds.
It all started in 2011. He lived in California, she lived in Canada.
Matthew says he followed Robin because, as a West Coast transplant, he was nostalgic for the snow-covered Christmases he enjoyed while growing up in Wisconsin. Robin was busy picking out a Christmas tree and posting photos of the season as she experienced it in Toronto. When he saw the photos, he started clicking the magic "like" button.
She followed him because she felt a connection with the images he shared on his feed, particularly those of his avid cycling hobby. She loved that she was seeing life through his eyes, she says in an adorable video they created to document their love story.
After a few months of "textual" flirtation, he flew out to meet her. She had a hard time making eye contact at first, and instead snapped -- yup -- a photo to post on Instagram.
Two years later, the lovebirds married in a small backyard ceremony. Amazingly enough, Coe and Fleming aren't the first couple to meet on Instagram. But they are the first reported couple to tie the knot based on their Insta-love.
