Facebook Relationships

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.

As annoying as it is for me to be bombarded with questions when I change my own relationship status, I don't deny how delighted I am to read about other people's.

Some of the less intriguing status changes include removing the label "single", two friends no longer being in a relationship, and the addition of "it's complicated" to someone's page.

When I read, though, about two people either linking or unlinking their Facebooks, I get very interested and immediately click on one of their pages. It's incredibly interesting to know who broke up with who or how old a new girlfriend is.

There are a lot of reasons why I, and other people, like to see everyone else's relationship status changes. It's so thrilling because I can often find out information that wouldn't be shared with me otherwise.

It's interesting to learn about people with whom I've never spoken to but are my Facebook friend. Also, I can decide whether or not I think a relationship will work. I can think "I told you so!" when two people break up that I thought weren't good together.

Or I can be intrigued by people who I would have never thought of together. It's incredibly interesting to know details about other people from Facebook.

Linking your Facebook accounts when you've recently entered a relationship with someone can sometimes be a risky move if you like privacy.

In most cases, it either means that the relationship has a lot of hope to last or that one of the people in the relationship takes his/her Facebook profile very seriously. If the relationship ends abruptly or badly and everyone finds out about it through Facebook, it can be embarrassing for both of the people, and most people like to make sure this doesn't happen.

It varies, though, from couple to couple just how much information they list on Facebook. Some couples opt to wait before linking themselves on Facebook, too.

I've witnessed a couple stay together for five months before making it "Facebook official". I also know a couple who've been together for over a year and have to this day not put up any information under the relationship status option.

Sometimes, though, immediately following an official entry into a relationship, the other person will request to link Facebooks as soon as they have a chance.

So many things can be learned from Facebook, and from new couples forming to old couples breaking up there is always appeal to investigate relationship status changes.

Not all of it can be believed, but often Facebook reveals intimate details of people's lives which they would not otherwise share with you.

As easily, though, as you can find out relationship information about other people, they can find out information about your relationship status. It's important to realize that if you update your relationship status, everyone will find out, even people you never talk to.

Nevertheless, Facebook is the ultimate tool for learning details about people's personal lives, like it or not.