There is nothing that defines relationships and sex for this generation more than Facebook.
Where else can you befriend, message, research and stalk all in a virtual reality that some of us take more seriously than actual reality? Think about it: changing one's relationship status on Facebook is the ultimate in going steady - it has replaced the letterman jacket and varsity pin.
While technology today has affected and fostered a slew of relationships, I can't help but wonder if all this technological interference is serving to help or hamper modern love.
Sure, we can find our "perfect matches" on online dating sites, but can a relationship beyond emoticon-filled e-mails survive? Can I get past my boy's ex's Myspace comments? Could we have masturbation without online porn? Communication without "LOL" and "BRB"? IDK.
My roommate laments that technology can't communicate possible underlying sarcasm or pinpoint the intonation of someone's voice, suggesting true intent or feelings. How many times have we all said, "I didn't mean it like that," regarding a text, message, e-mail or IM?
Not to mention, does someone's online life really reflect his or her actual existence? I'll admit right here and now to examining my boy's Facebook messages when he forgot to sign off his account, to checking our astrological sign compatibility and to Googling a potential crush. But none of this Internet fodder reflects who I really am, does it? I'm not really a crazy-nympho-stalker, am I? I'm J/K.
What we often forget is our online profiles are not necessarily actual representations of who we are as much as they are snippets of how we want to be perceived.
Perhaps technology serves as both a benefit and a burden. It can be a tool to unite to us, but it can also be a possible minefield of miscommunication, misunderstood intentions and misrepresented personas.
For better or for worse, social networking sites like Facebook have impacted, and will continue to impact, how we relate to one another. I may not like the ex messaging, but God knows I have done some stalking of my own. Here's to hoping we all sign off our accounts before others can track our musings…
