Ipad, Broken Hearts & Status Updates

It's bad enough to see a couple on the street making out in the middle of the sidewalk as you're trying to push by with a bulging bag, Starbucks latte, and a tangled mess of Ipod headphones in tow. But now it seems you can't even sign onto Facebook without someone throwing kissey-faced icons and strings of mushy words across the screen.

One of my latest pet peeves surrounds the concept that some people don't know when enough is enough. When checking in on status updates, I don't need to hear that "Jane Smith is...so head-over-heels for Jon! Can't wait to see you tonight, pumpkin!" or see a million and one posts on someone's wall about how their girlfriend or boyfriend misses them...when they live five minutes apart.

We get it. You're in love. Thats nice. And yes, sometime’ s love notes (even via the computer) are a nice way to show that other person you're thinking of them while at work/class/sitting across the room. But for God's sake could you do it privately? Sneak in a personal message? It's really not too much to ask to spare the rest of the world from witnessing daily commentary.

But it's not just the statuses that update us all...

Is it just me or is it now a trend to post a million pictures of engagement rings? I am always happy to take a look at the sparkler a friend or acquaintance has received but to dedicate an entire album to that rock? Overdoing it...just a touch. The best thing I saw was an old classmate took photos of the ring...on her hand...then her hand holding a rose...then just the ring on the rose. I did get a kick out of that one but I'm sure it was not the reaction she would want her viewers to have.

Of course, the door swings both ways. Sometimes a break-up becomes quite public knowledge via the World Wide Web. When the relationship status changes from "it's complicated" to "in a relationship" to "single" to "it's complicated" within a day maybe you should be sitting in a room face-to-face with this person figuring things out as opposed to wasting time signing on and letting everyone know where you and your beau's relationship stands. This is why my colligate best friend and I decided long ago to become "married" on Facebook so the world wouldn't have to feel sorry when that little broken hearted icon pops up on the news brief.

So in short, whether you're in a relationship or not, please don't dedicate Twitter updates, Facebook status, and numerous tagged photos to your love life. A little bit here and there is just fine but once your Mom's best-friend-from-high-school's son-in-law knows that you and your on-again off-again relationship of 3 years is definitely back-on again...its time to step away from the keyboard.