Breaking Up Online

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:57:00 -0500
social-networks

It's thrilling to participate in the explosion of online social media. Now protesters in Iran can tweet their way past government censors, politicians can connect their supporters, and everyone can provide the world with instant updates about their whereabouts, activities and emotions. It's all very empowering, or at least it feels that way at the moment; it remains to be seen whether our new tools will end up owning us. (Some evidence that they might: I seem to remember having truly private time a decade or two ago, but now my fingers are within reach of a keyboard or device, and therefore I'm connected to a network, seemingly every waking moment . . .).

But what happens when you want to disengage from somebody with whom you are closely connected--somebody with whom you basically share an online social network? Of course I've seen the awkward "Relationship Status" changes on Facebook--those awful public announcements of breakups. This story from today's New York Times highlights even more troubling issues. What a nightmare! Is this a sign of things to come? Do you have any social media breakup horror stories?