The article I will be discussing is called “The role of Social Networking Sites in Romantic Relationships: Effects on Jealousy and Relationship Happiness”. In this article they discuss and break down the different roles that social networking sites (SNS), such as Facbook, play within romantic relationships. A survey was given to subjects who were currently involved in a romantic relationship. These results were then broken down into categories.
The big debate at hand is whether or not social networking sites such as Facebook cause relationships to be unhealthy. The first issue that came up was that Facebook allows the couple to find out more information about their partner than they might find out without the use of a social networking site. I think this is very true. It is often easy to judge what type of person someone is based on how they interact with other people via Facebook without having any actual physical proof. Another issue discussed in this article is that social networking sites allow you to unnecessarily monitor your partner. Again, I believe this to be true as well. While viewing wall posts, comments, and pictures online, it can be easy to over analyze things and take things out of context. This often leads to jealousy, which can be the demise of a great relationship.
Another issue covered is whether or not people in a romantic relationship should post personal information about the two of them, and if so, how much is ok to share with the rest of the world. I personally do not think that my relationship is the business of anyone else, and my personal relationships should stay private. For example, from personal experience, if you look online and see that one of your friends is always posting great things about their boyfriend or girlfriend, you may start to compare your significant other to that of your friend. These comparisons can often create standards that often cannot be reached. This is proof that relationship satisfaction is negatively related to SNS jealousy (Utz, 2011).
In conclusion, I do not think there is any set of definite answers in deciding how one should go about sharing their romantic relationship on a social networking site. I do, however, think that putting or viewing too much information about your or anyone else’s relationships online is unhealthy. In the end it is up to the users to determine what is ok to post and how much information they want to gather by looking at their significant others profile. If you’re are not careful, the implications can be a negative relationship or can even cause a great relationship to end.
References:
Alcott, L. (2010, April 18). Twi-quilters: eclipse charity quilt: bella's broken heart. Twi-quilters. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from http://twilightquilterscoven.blogspot.com/2010/04/eclipse-charity-quilt-bellas-broken.html
Utz, S. (2011). The role of social networking sites in romantic relationships: effects on jealousy and relationship happiness. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 16(4), 511-527. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2011.01552.x/full
I think this is a very interesting study. I have seen a lot of relationships that have been ruined by Facebook. I have a friend that had a boyfriend who would constantly check her Facebook, and even hack onto her Facebook to make sure she wasn't sending any secret messages to other guys. This guy was paranoid, but Facebook nurtured his paranoia. Every time another guy would post on her wall or even request her as a friend, they ended up getting in a fight. If you couldn't guess, these two are not in a relationship anymore. This shows how SNSs can really play a part in failed relationships. It allows one to be TOO aware of what the other is doing and over-analyze his or her relationship. In the old days, people never had these problems! People need to become more aware of how SNSs can impact their relationships in a negative way.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I agree with the article that Facebook can impact relationships. However, I only agree to that when people take things a little too seriously. I do not think Facebook is an appropriate factor to be deemed the *know or end all* for a relationship. In my opinion, that much accountability should not be given to a social networking site. Seems as if the individuals who engage in the behavior need to relax and realize if you have problems on Facebook, maybe the relationship needs a bit of work outside of cyberspace.
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