Much like a male bird that swells its chest and rustles its feathers to display dedication to its mate, Facebook has become a place for the more human-like creatures to display their undying love and affection. In fact, somewhere in this world, at this very moment, a teen girl can be found in her natural habitat posting things like “ILY baby!” or “Happy one month xoxo!” Some use Facebook to reconnect with old friends or to observe their wacky distant relatives’ lives from afar. Others use Facebook to constantly remind themselves that they do, indeed, have a love life.
It’s no big secret that PDA has become a widely accepted occurrence in this day and age. Couples are found holding hands and kissing in public all the time–– no big deal, right? But does this blasé attitude also apply to Facebook PDA? Where do we draw the line between acceptable and irritating?
Some examples of “Facebook PDA” range from sappy wall posts to intimate photos with overused Taylor Swift lyrics stapled to them. And too often do we see photos of flower bouquets with captions like “luckiest girl ever!” or “my boyfriend is better than yours!” The issue with these very public displays of affection is that they oftentimes appear to be more of a cry for attention than an act of devotion.
Many college students would agree that the ever-turning wheel of sappy Facebook posts some couples continue to spin on is nothing more than a hunt for attention.
“It’s easy to tell when people are close, so sometimes I feel as though the sappy posts and pictures are more of a show than anything,” sophomore Gina Piccorossi said.
Another aspect of the integration of Facebook and relationships is privacy or, rather, the lack thereof. Privacy in relationships seems to be a slowly deteriorating concept. A friend of mine once stumbled upon a trunk full of old love letters that were sent back and forth between her grandparents for years. The letters were intimate, personal and sincere. These qualities are foreign to the modern idea of romance. Time and time again, relationships in this generation have proven to be more of a “my horse is bigger than your horse” affair rather than a cherished unity between two people.
Our generation has also introduced some new terminology to the dating sphere: “FBO” (Facebook Official). This term simply means that your relationship status is confirmed and plastered to your profile for all the world to see. A question that has frequently been probed is whether or not a relationship can be considered legitimate in these days without being FBO.
“I personally believe that a relationship is legitimate in real life. Facebook does not define relationships,” sophomore Jeff Dyal said.
It has definitely become a normalcy to make the status of your relationship public, and it isn’t entirely a bad thing, either. It could even be beneficial! Say you met a guy at a party who takes an interest in you. He follows you around all night long, offers to get you drinks and is somehow fascinated by your double major in accounting and business. He’s a nice guy, and you don’t really care to hurt his feelings, so you tell him to add you on Facebook. He finds you within the huge entanglement of the interweb and notices you are “In A Relationship.” Just like that, lover boy hits the highroad (under ideal circumstances, at least).
Though it’s true the “FBO” notion has its pros, I think it’s time we consider its cons. Many couples take their Internet privileges for granted. Of course everyone is entitled to post whatever he or she wishes whenever he or she wishes. But I’m a firm believer that this right can be exercised in a way that doesn’t make single Facebook users want to hack Sappy Suzy’s account and delete all her photos and wall posts.
What do most consider cute, and just downright annoying?
“I think pictures together are great!” said sophomore Terry Preston. “I do not, however, find the back-to-back wall posts while sitting on the same couch to be adorable. You don’t have to prove your love to other people. We believe you.”
By popular vote, the occasional picture of you with your significant other is cute and sometimes even adorable. Not everyone is a cynic. Some people even ogle over other’s romantic lives! However, by an even more popular vote, an overabundance of mush and gush can be very off-putting.
The era of social networking has undoubtedly had an impact on romantic relationships. Whether you care to display your unfaltering love on Facebook or not, just remember: We believe you.
Jackie Braje can be reached at jacquelyn.braje@spartans.ut.edu