Ironic, Real, and Complicated:
The Facebook Relationship Status
Facebook has become the center of life for many teens and young adults. A typical day for many high school and college students consists of at least one login a day. Facebook pages contain user-submitted bits of information about themselves: everything from Hometown to Favorite Movies to the all important Relationship Status. According to The Social Network, the dramatized version of the non-fiction novel The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, Mark Zuckerberg came up with the idea of the relationship status because everything in college revolves around relationships and sex (see A/V section for the clip from the film).
At the beginning, relationship statuses remained pretty true to life. A person could select the options of Single, In a Relationship, Engaged, Married, In an Open Relationship, or It's Complicated. Now they have evolved to incorporate the person's relationship partner - a public declaration of one's romantic involvement. The idea of the relationship status has further evolved from the original intent, as well. Instead of a solely truthful document of relationship status, people have now chosen to post falsified, and sometimes 'ironic', relationship statuses. For instance, people may choose to be "Engaged to" their best friend. One of my own friends - who has been in a serious monogamous relationship with the same girl for 2+ years now - is involved in a Facebook relationship with his male best friend.
From an anthropological sense, it is interesting to see the development of this tool of information dissemination and social interaction. A couple isn't truly a couple now until they are "Facebook official". It has become the new version of having a girl wear your pin to demarcate going steady - or even an engagement ring. It provides a public audience an opportunity to hear about your budding relationship. And what happens when you breakup? Everyone is notified of that, too - proclamation of the relationship's end. Everything about our private lives is now public knowledge in the public sphere.
Social networking truly has changed how we relate to others.
Through evaluation of scholarly articles, online resources (i.e. personal blogs, public Facebook groups, Facebook profiles, etc.), and previously conducted ethnographies, I will look to explore:
- why people choose to post relationship statuses
- how people use relationship status as a public display of self
- how relationship status confirms the existence of a relationship
- in what ways Facebook has changed the dating world by bringing it from a real world dimension to one that spans personal interaction along with online interaction
Links
"Facebook Predicts When You're Likely to Get Dumped". Gizmodo - Nov 2010
"Your Facebook Relationship Status: It's Complicated". Time Magazine - May 2009
"Brave New World of Digital Intimacy". New York Times Magazine - Sept 2008
"Love and Heartbreak on Facebook". ABCnews.com - May 2008
"Man Killed Wife in Facebook Row". BBCNews.com - Oct 2008
Facebook Relationship Status Speaks the Truth
"Facebook Relationship Status". Chicago Now. Apr 2010.
"Do You Suffer From Facebook Relationship Status Anxiety?" - Sept 2009
"Won't Change Facebook Status". DivineCaroline.com - Jan 2010