Digital Dating and Romance

Abstract

Communication channels such as social network sites, instant messaging (IM) and texting are generating new dating rules and conventions. This indicates that the affordances of digital communication technologies are capable of managing complex emotions. Displaying information about one’s relationship status has become a regular feature of social network profiles among adults as well as teenagers. Sites such as Facebook ask participants to state their relationship status, as ‘single’, ‘in a relationship’, ‘engaged’, ‘married’, ‘it’s complicated’, ‘in an open relationship’or ‘‘widowed’. The relationship categories on Facebook are difficult to handle not only for those in failing relationships but also for new ones. As Gershon states, ‘Facebook official’ status ‘has come to stand in for exclusivity’ (Gershon 2010: 83). Many people are uncomfortable about displaying their relationship status, so they leave it blank or, for example among adolescents, they might play jokes (such as selecting in a relationship with’ a friend’s dog).