Are you Ready to Be FBO?
Technology and social networking sites have changed the way Millennials date. We have become so accustomed to sharing every detail of our lives on social media so it makes perfect sense we'd want to change our relationship status publicy when the time is right. But how do we know when it’s time to take your relationship to the next level?
Here are 5 signs to help figure out whether or not you’re ready to go Facebook Official:
1) You’ve been in a relationship for the last few months
One thing you don’t want to do is jump from being exclusive to being in a relationship to being Facebook Official in a few days. Give it time, a few months time. Two should be enough. By that time, your parents know you’re seeing someone, your close friends know. Changing your relationship status shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who you care most about.
2) You are sick and tired of people asking whether or not you’re together (because you obviously are #duh)
Changing your relationship status is a great way to keep those annoying questions at bay. When you change your status, you have the option of including the date, so now you won’t have to answer the “How long have you been dating?”/ “Are you dating?” questions anymore. Of course, this might open up the door for other annoying questions, but at least it solved some problems.
3) Your close friends and family already know you’re with them and have known for some time
The last thing you want is getting back-to-back calls from your parents asking about your new relationship status on Facebook. Save yourself time and energy by making sure your family and close friends know you’ve been in a relationship. This way, no one will feel bad or left out, or incredibly shocked when they see your news pop up on their timeline.
4) You’ve already talked about your relationship and where it’s going
After a few months being together, you two should’ve already had the “talk”, and I’m not talking about birds and bees talk, I’m talking about the “future talk”. Before changing your status, make sure you two have opened up about where you see yourselves in the future ifyou see yourselves together.
"Now is not the time to play games with someone you can’t see yourself having a life with. So if your significant other says that s/he doesn’t see the relationship going anywhere, you may want to call it quits now before it hurts more in the future."
5) You both don’t care about anyone else’s opinions because it doesn’t matter
Anyone who had problems with your lover should have brought it up to you a few months ago because you’re in too deep now. Those who truly care about you would have brought them up before you became exclusive. You know s/he has his/her flaws and you don’t care about what other people are gossiping about. You like him/her for who they are inside and have come to love their imperfections. Those who are gossiping now and bringing up their opinions are just jealous and should be ignored. Not that you’re paying attention to them anyway.
Making your relationship FBO is a way of saying, “Don’t hit on me. I’m off-limits.” As Millennials are getting older, we’re becoming more careful about what we choose to put online so changing our relationship status is something that takes careful consideration and shouldn’t be taken for granted. While some may find it cheesy and cheeky, it’s important to remember that announcing your relationship status to your Facebook community is not an indicator of how you truly feel for one another. It’s just one way to demonstrate your commitment since you’re willing to put yourself out there so publicly. You shouldn’t feel the need to live up to unspoken expectations from Facebook couples, and please don’t become those annoying couples who constantly comment on each others pictures and posts, and post pictures of themselves every single day with obnoxious captions. Changing your status does not mean you have to change how you two interact online, it just means you’ve taken your relationship to the next level.
Felisa Wiley
Born and raised in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, model, blogger, and hopeless romantic Felisa Wiley always knew that she was a city girl at heart. After leaving her comfortable island life behind, Felisa landed in Allentown, PA where she is currently a senior in college. Passionate about Millennials and anything that has to do with her generation, Felisa is the founder of AverageMillennial.com and uses her blog to explore and write about how social media, technology, and society shape and influence Millennials lifestyle.
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