In an age of sharing so much information on every platform of social media, this is the hardest decision for me to make. Don't get me wrong -- I love scrolling down Facebook and seeing relationship statuses of people, knowing who finally got together, who finally broke up with that guy who was no good to begin with, and seeing which of my wonderful friends are now engaged. But for me to actually share that with people is scary. Even writing this is scary, because it's a peek into my brain of the anxieties I get when I post something.
My posting of my relationship status was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, honestly. I haven't been the type of person to do that since early high school. My thoughts then were completely different. I was ecstatic for everyone to see who I had been talking to for the past couple of months and that we had finally gotten serious. Yes, I was that annoying girl on Facebook with a boyfriend, both of us constantly posting on each other's walls.
My mentality changed later on when I realized it wasn't necessary to display that much information just because I had the option to, and it was honestly much easier to not change it because the relationships weren't lasting so long anyway. It was just too much to change it back and forth, and I really didn't want people to know when I was single again, seeing as the breakups were bad enough as they were without drawing more public attention than I would get in the halls of my small high school. At that point in my life, I had pretty much logged off of Facebook for good, nothing about it interesting me except the messaging system.
College is much different, though, I have come to realize. Everyone is on the site. We post updates of college life, talk to loved ones, and keep up with our new friends and old ones from high school. And everyone is posting their relationship status. Some have the stuck-up attitude -- "I don't need to post that because it isn't anyone's business." They're right! But it still is a cool feature of Facebook. I fully support anyone that is brave enough to share their private life a little on such a public site.
Still, I don't know if it's quite for me. Becoming "Facebook official" is kind of a serious step for me, which sounds like a huge joke, and while it does give some a giggle, others understand my common fear associated with it.
"How awkward is it going to be changing my relationship status to single and quickly scrambling to make that update secret so no one catches it on their news feed?"
"What if this jinxes our relationship?"
"Are people going to think we're moving too fast?"
"Will there be Facebook drama if this goes wrong?"
"Should I allow this on my Facebook? I mean, I like to keep it kind of professional for employers, and this seems like TMI for them..."
"Is this opening up an opportunity for the chance for people to talk about me behind my back?"
"Are people going to think we're that icky couple that likes to publicize everything?"
"Do people just think we're making it official for attention?"
I fully realize that I should not think like this. I shouldn't give one damn. I'm at least working on it, though.
Whatever you decide to do, just remember that it ultimately doesn't matter. Handle social media how you want to, without regard to what you think is "socially acceptable." After all, it is your page. Personalize it to fit you but also keep in mind that it doesn't define you.
