Facebook Relationship StatusDo you realize the average woman spends up to 3 hours a day on Facebook?

It’s like a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week gossip-fest. Some of things I see women chatting and commenting on is insane, but one thing about Facebook strikes me as very strange, and that’s the “relationship status.”

It seems something mainly you women are into, but it’s suddenly become “fashionable” to announce your current relationship status for the world to see. And what’s even funnier is how quickly these statuses change from “single” to “in a relationship” to “it’s complicated” and back to “single” again.  They post a picture of themselves and their new boyfriend looking happy together, and then announce to the Facebook public that, “we’re now an item.”

Then you’ll get the comments underneath from people giving congratulations or messages of support. Either that or you get a ton of “likes” and shares. It turns into a major news story among your friends. I remember when you’d just spend a ton of time hanging out with a girl, and then suddenly say, “God we spend a lot of time together. I guess we’re in a relationship.”

It was the way it used to be. Our friends would see us looking happy when we eventually came up for air, and that was how they knew we were together. Now you have to announce to the entire world you’re in a relationship so they can comment on your news. People have even emailed me saying…

“Dear David,

When should I announce to my friends on Facebook that I’m in a relationship?  When should I bring it up with him?”

To me a relationship is sacred. It’s something private between two people. When I start a relationship, I like people to see me out and about with my new partner. I like people to see me connecting naturally with my new woman. I like people to ask, “Hey, how long have you two been together?”

I like to do it organically in person. It’s so much more authentic and real than a bunch of so-called friends you connect with, but never really speak to on Facebook. We’ve become an announcement society. It’s so strange to me people want to put their relationship status out there the whole time on Facebook. So the next time you start a new relationship, think about that sacred bond you’re building with someone before you go and splash it all over Facebook. Think about the reasons you’re doing it in the first place. Are you looking for social validation? Is it an insecurity thing? I just don’t see the point. What do you think?

Is the Facebook status announcement just a modern way of letting people know who you’re dating, or a slightly weird and invasive waste of time?