Facebook Relationships
Sally Bucey
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Life!
Every day after class, as soon as I get back to my dorm room, I drop my books on the ground, take my jacket off and open my computer. Then I do as any college or high school student would do; I check my Facebook.
Between checking notifications and responding to messages, there is one thing I love to do. I always make sure to look through the News Feed for that bright red heart or broken heart, the one that indicates a relationship status change.
On a person's Facebook alongside information such as hometown, religion, political views, lays relationship status. One can choose between "single," "in a relationship," "in an open relationship," "engaged," "married," and my personal favorite, "it's complicated." It's even possible to link two Facebook accounts on a page so that everyone knows just who the no-longer-so-mysterious other is.
The relationship status option isn't always updated completely honestly, however. It's not rare for one to see two girls listed as married or in a relationship directly above where it says "Interested In Men". Some reasons people do this are to show just how close they are to another person.
Also, they may just want to send a message that they are not looking for a relationship. The "it's complicated" option is also rarely used genuinely. This is probably because when things really are complicated, people don't want to explain their situation to every prying eye.
Besides these options, I've even seen a friend of mine link their Facebook to a fictional character. With so many reasons to lie about or hide one's relationship status, it's not always accurate to make assumptions based off of Facebook. The fact is, you never know.
Despite a variety of privacy controls, it seems nearly impossible to change one's relationship status without the entire world knowing.
Within ten minutes or so, it's not uncommon for someone to comment on the relationship change with an oh-so-subtle "what?" or "who is it?!" Even though it's possible to remove the change from one's own Wall, it always finds its way into everyone else's News Feed. No matter what, it seems like everyone finds out.
Between checking notifications and responding to messages, there is one thing I love to do. I always make sure to look through the News Feed for that bright red heart or broken heart, the one that indicates a relationship status change.
On a person's Facebook alongside information such as hometown, religion, political views, lays relationship status. One can choose between "single," "in a relationship," "in an open relationship," "engaged," "married," and my personal favorite, "it's complicated." It's even possible to link two Facebook accounts on a page so that everyone knows just who the no-longer-so-mysterious other is.
The relationship status option isn't always updated completely honestly, however. It's not rare for one to see two girls listed as married or in a relationship directly above where it says "Interested In Men". Some reasons people do this are to show just how close they are to another person.
Also, they may just want to send a message that they are not looking for a relationship. The "it's complicated" option is also rarely used genuinely. This is probably because when things really are complicated, people don't want to explain their situation to every prying eye.
Besides these options, I've even seen a friend of mine link their Facebook to a fictional character. With so many reasons to lie about or hide one's relationship status, it's not always accurate to make assumptions based off of Facebook. The fact is, you never know.
Despite a variety of privacy controls, it seems nearly impossible to change one's relationship status without the entire world knowing.
Within ten minutes or so, it's not uncommon for someone to comment on the relationship change with an oh-so-subtle "what?" or "who is it?!" Even though it's possible to remove the change from one's own Wall, it always finds its way into everyone else's News Feed. No matter what, it seems like everyone finds out.