When you post lovey dovey updates on Facebook, your friends don’t exactly react the way you might expect, according to a new study due to be published in the journal of Personal Relationships.
Researchers created 24 fake Facebook profiles complete with pictures and relationship statuses and asked 114 undergraduate students to rate them.
They then posted status updates from each profile, which varied from high relationship disclosure (such as, “Pining away for Jordan…I just love you so much I can’t stand it!”), low relationship disclosure (“I love my girlfriend <3”), or neutral (“Phoneless for a bit, email me!”).
After some Facebook stalking, the participants completed a survey about these fake profiles, which got them to rate the user’s relationship commitment and satisfaction plus their overall likeability.
Users who posted shamelessly about their partner were perceived to be in the highest quality relationships, but they were the least likeable! On the other hand, users who posted about anything but their relationship were rated as the most likeable.
The users in the low disclosure category scored right in the middle for both perceived relationship satisfaction and likeability.
In another part of this study, the researchers took over real couples’ Facebook profiles and had a group of participants rate their perceived relationship satisfaction.
They found that users who made their bond Facebook official and had a couple picture as their profile photo were perceived to be most satisfied with their relationships.
And apparently, that profile photo is even more important than the relationship status. Users who had a photo with their partner but didn’t reveal their relationship status were still rated higher than users who were listed as in a relationship but didn’t have a couple photo.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Post about the relationship or spare your friends all the mushy details?
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