"It's Complicated" : Love on Facebook
Robin Miniter
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Lifestyles
Kara Gifford's mother was confused by her Facebook profile. It wasn't the photos documenting her daughter's talent for one-handed keg stands that left her flustered; rather, it was her daughter being paired up in "open relationship" with another female friend. She popped the question to Kara over a pile of folded socks and sheets: Was the current boyfriend just a cover? "No, Mom, you don't get it," Gifford sighed, "it's only Facebook."
Relationships in real life are complicated enough. When putting a relationship up on Facebook, users invite friends to watch their courtship or playful friendship unfold.
"I think there's a lot of valid commentary going on in people's status updates, as well as how they choose to describe their relationships," said Prof. Michael Koch of the Communications Department.
Laura Formanek, a sophomore, agrees, "The relationship statuses signify how people define themselves, whether that be identifying by themselves, by their friends, or by their significant others."
Admit it or not, we are all participants of online voyeurism. In layman's terms: we all love to creep and be crept. However, such willingness of online display can sometimes lead to negative offline consequences.
"Facebook definitely seems to make relationships harder to negotiate and define," said Koch, "Facebook and other such sites are making all aspects of social life more complicated." He says that, "People increasingly use it to bring all the separate strands of their lives together, in ways they wouldn't have done before. Many people might have their parents/grandparents, their childhood friends, their co-workers, employers and their college drinking buddies/hook-ups all on there, all linked together. Their communications [and] expressions go out to all these people at once, which isn't how it usually works in the real world."
On one hand, Facebook is flippant and casual; on the other it's legitimate business. And, as we know (as in the case of Gifford's mother) messages can often get lost in translation.
Relationships in real life are complicated enough. When putting a relationship up on Facebook, users invite friends to watch their courtship or playful friendship unfold.
"I think there's a lot of valid commentary going on in people's status updates, as well as how they choose to describe their relationships," said Prof. Michael Koch of the Communications Department.
Laura Formanek, a sophomore, agrees, "The relationship statuses signify how people define themselves, whether that be identifying by themselves, by their friends, or by their significant others."
Admit it or not, we are all participants of online voyeurism. In layman's terms: we all love to creep and be crept. However, such willingness of online display can sometimes lead to negative offline consequences.
"Facebook definitely seems to make relationships harder to negotiate and define," said Koch, "Facebook and other such sites are making all aspects of social life more complicated." He says that, "People increasingly use it to bring all the separate strands of their lives together, in ways they wouldn't have done before. Many people might have their parents/grandparents, their childhood friends, their co-workers, employers and their college drinking buddies/hook-ups all on there, all linked together. Their communications [and] expressions go out to all these people at once, which isn't how it usually works in the real world."
On one hand, Facebook is flippant and casual; on the other it's legitimate business. And, as we know (as in the case of Gifford's mother) messages can often get lost in translation.
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