With a click of a button that read “save changes,” my relationship status became Facebook official. My network of friends became part of a more than personal change in my life. I did not realize the implications of this new change on my profile until the next morning when I was tweeted, texted, emailed and instant messaged. With a society now packed with online information, we tend to forget it includes even our personal information. I didn’t think it was going to bother me so much until I realized so many people, whom I had no real relationship with, were aware of my newly-ended one. I spoke with my brother, and he had brought to my attention this new generation of being “Facebook official.” Now it seems that in order to be in a relationship, you must have it on Facebook.

The more the idea of being “Facebook official” comes to my mind, the more baffled I become. There are so many new ways to stay in communication with someone. This also creates new ways to cheat. This isn’t to say everyone on Facebook is cheating, but truth be told, I’ve recently seen more and more relationships ending due to something someone said on social networking sites. Contributing to the craze is the people who become even more insecure about their partner, due to these new outlets of communication. As insecurities rise, there becomes, like Drake would put it, “trust issues.” Therefore, to rid oneself of these insecurities, the opportunity to publicly announce one’s relationship becomes all but necessary.

These statuses are held on the same level of privacy as ones posted about where you went to lunch. I see nothing wrong with wanting to share with people that you are in a relationship. It concerns me that these relationships hold more weight on them than possibly wanted. All relationships have their ups and downs, but when a network of friends become aware, it adds a sort of pressure to the relationship, due to all the eyes, ears and judgment on a couple’s situation. It seems as if we have gotten used to publicly announcing our daily lives through a filter, causing us to be more aware of who everyone else thinks we are, rather than who we really are.