Seattle, WA - Facebook has frequently been indicted by many scorned lovers and betrayed spouses for causing their relationship woes and broken marriages. But, the newest feature from the popular social network called Timeline could expose things one partner doesn’t want the other to know, or reveal things to the world about their relationship that were meant to be private.
Every couple should have a sit down to discuss how their virtual life and online relationships affect their real-time marriage, according to K. Jason and Kelli Krafsky, a husband and wife duo who specialize in how technology impacts relationships.
“With the introduction of Facebook’s Timeline feature, users will be able to scroll through a story of your life via your past status updates, pictures and other postings,” says K. Jason Krafsky, co-author of Facebook and Your Marriage. “Let’s just say that things are going to get a lot more personal for the 800-million Facebook users, and many relationships will be exposed and made more vulnerable.”
“Over the last several years, a lot of married Facebookers jumped onto the popular social network with reckless abandon and began friending people and posting updates,” says Kelli Krafsky, blogger and co-speaker on social media issues. “Timeline is a game changer that will put everything out there, like a digital scrapbook of your life for anyone and everyone to see. The good, the bad and the ugly.”
Based on the countless stories of heart ache and heart break, the Krafskys developed “The Techlationship Talk,” five questions to help couples discuss their virtual activities and technology habits to avoid causing problems in their real-time relationship.
“The Techlationship Talk” questions include:
Is anybody not acceptable? Discuss what past and present associations are off limits to be Facebook Friends.
Is any time off limits? Share times of the day (or night) that should be free from socializing online.
Is anywhere out-of-bounds? Talk about comfort levels using private, online communication with people, including exes, flirts, or online-only friends.
Is anything taboo? Chat about what is and is not appropriate to share about one another and your relationship.
Is anyplace not allowed? Hash out situation when it is not OK to check your Facebook, such as date nights, meal times and special occasions.
“The ultimate goal of ‘The Techlationship Talk” is to spark an honest dialogue that helps couples discover where technology and their relationship converge,” says Kelli.
“The social media age we live in, and especially with the Facebook’s Timeline feature, couples must talk about their online habits and how their virtual worlds and real worlds collide,” says Jason, “because like it or not, they do.”
Facebook and Your Marriage, a book that deals less with Facebook how-to’s and more about relationship how-to’s, has guided many couples through the numerous social network-related issues they face and provides practical solutions to create online guard rails and healthy boundaries for their relationship. The book is available in major bookstores, at Amazon and BN.com, and at http://SocialMediaCouple.com. The Krafskys speak publically and write about technology and relationship issues at their blog: http://Techlationships.com.
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Press Release released September 27, 2011.
K Jason and Kelli Krafsky are available for media interviews. Contact them via web (http://www.socialmediacouple.com/contact-us), email ([email protected]) or phone (425.432.8433).
I must admit my husband and I are both guilty of facebooking at the dinner table but we sure do know the limit of what information we give on facebook. I can’t imagine giving our personal details out for the world to see. Although I do let the world know when we are out on a date because its that special to me!
Incredible, much info found in one particular post. I really hope I could apply some of this kind of to our operate in the longer term! .
I’ve tried having the tech discussion. And he changed his password(email too) and no he didn’t share the info. We’ve been married 34 years. The number of women who private message him KNOWING he is married blows me away. That they claim to be Christians and don’t care what it looks like when they flirt iscompletely rediculous.. One was so bad that I got a call from our grown daughter who wanted to know who the woman was that made the “sleazy” comment to her dad. He defends this under the title friends. He even friended the family of his former affair partner and checks out the photos of her that are posted. When I object, his response is “well if it hurts you..don’t look”. Yes he’s a jerk!!!