Friday 15 February 2013

It's a social media website, not a dating website...


A wise man (with a gnarly blog) once said, “The best sign of a healthy relationship is no sign of it on Facebook.”

Despite the comment receiving upwards of 65 “likes” on Facebook, it also initiated fierce backlash from a couple of users who were particularly fond of airing their relationship-related laundry on said social network.

Admittedly, the comment may have exaggerated the issue of relationships on social media to a hilarious and clever extreme, but the general point is still an accurate one.

If you do find yourself entangled in the throws of a budding romance, exercise discretion with updates and profile picture choices. If the first dozen or so pictures one sees when viewing your profile look like this:



  Followed by comments like this:

        
     
…Then it may be time to think about toning it down a tad. This young lady appears to have done nothing else but kiss her boyfriend (from a variety of angles) throughout the latter course of 2012.

At the end of the day, we must remember: It’s a social media profile –serving as a digital representation of our physical lives– and it shouldn’t look like a drunken sexcapade through the photo booth at the mall.


15 comments:

  1. This post is amazing, Graham. Thank you for pointing out that, although it is okay to let others know you are in a relationship, you do not need to shove it down people's throats. It becomes like the friend that can only talk about their significant other every time you hang out, it gets quite dull very fast.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I remember when this was posted on FB. I thought it was great then and still do now! I think everyone needs to see this blog! So many people are guilty of this and finally someone pointed it out! Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Indeed. It is a TMI generation. And then there are the people that annoyingly list the days activities: " Doing laundry, then lunch with Laura, and off to Yoga class" --WHO CARES.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's like the person we all have on Facebook who uploads a billion pictures of her baby belly, her ultrasound (seriously, isn't that supposed to be a private thing between family?) and then proceeds to flood your news feed with baby photos when the child finally comes. Maybe I'm a bit of hypocrite (I have posted a few coupley photos in my time), but do we really need to see hundreds of photos of people's babies in 15 different outfits or positions every day?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree, Graham - and Jarin, DON'T get me started on babies. If I can see the umbilical cord, I've seen too much. *barf*

    I guess the great thing about social media, though, is that it takes less than a second to unfollow or unfriend. Maybe then they'll get it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think a couple of coupley photos are fine. It is when it gets carried away is when the problem begins. Everyone does it from time to time, it just depends how far you want to take it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You are totally right, Graham. The idea behind Facebook, and other social networking sites, is not to broadcast your relationship status to everyone, but to represent you as an individual. You wouldn't post this sort of photo on LinkedIn!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree on this one too - yet I know a lot of my FB "friends" probably wouldn't. On the other hand, it is interesting to find out who's dating who!



    ReplyDelete
  9. Could not agree more on this one Graham! If only we could all explain it as eloquently as you do.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This couldn't hit the nail on the head more. There is nothing more annoying then a couple who posts their make out sessions on fb, like really none of us want to see that. Another thing that I would add to this are the couple/person that's relationship status changes every other day. Like we all get it you are in a really dysfunctional relatioship. Why you would want to air that to the internet is beyond me.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I completely agree with you! The last thing I want to see when I log into facebook is someone blowing up my newsfeed with their annoying relationship updates.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think I might be guilty of this ... LOL but Ryan and I are so adorable, doesn't the world want to see all the cutesy pictures we take together?! According to all the comments on this post, apparently not. I get the hint Graham, I'll stop with the couple pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Awe I love couple pictures! Where else to post them if its not on Facebook!! haha
    Also the girl you used as an example is one of my boyfriends friends HAHAHAHA!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I hate seeing a couple's pictures especially when it fills my entire Facebook news feed. I'm sure we've all been guilty of this at one time or another but there are photo albums for a reason.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I hate couple's pictures so much when they are all over the social media. Can't agree with you more!

    ReplyDelete