Do people really believe what you say about your love life on Facebook?

In today’s time, we tend to stay connected with our friends and acquaintances more on social media platforms rather than actually meeting them in person. In fact, we tend to post stuff related to our personal life, especially romantic relationships, on social media and prefer to make an announcement in the virtual world. But have you ever wondered how your online friends perceive your posts and form an impression about your relationship? A study published in journal Personal Relationships explores what people tend to think about your relationship from your Facebook profile. Here are some of its insightful findings.

The study was done on two parts. First, the researchers created multiple Facebook profiles of fictional people. These fake profiles had varied content. Some had photographs with their significant others, some mentioned their relationship status and others did not disclose anything about their love life.

Around 200 participants were asked to go through these profiles and rate how happy these couples seemed in their real life. Interestingly, these respondents associated the profiles that had happy couple photographs and statuses with high levels of satisfaction and commitment in a relationship. In simpler words, people tend to believe what they see on your social media profile.

These 200 participants were also made to fill a detailed questionnaire that quizzed them about the quality of their relationship. Next, the researchers analysed their Facebook profiles and kept a tab on the kind of content they posted on their profile.

Well, the researchers conclude that users that post photographs with their partner and declare themselves ‘in a relationship’ reported to be more satisfied and committed to their partners. This indicates many couples do not fake their happiness on Facebook.

As they say, excessive of everything is bad and that includes your frequency of posts on Facebook as well. The profiles that had too many mushy status updates and rosy photographs were not liked by the participants. In fact, such users were perceived as not fun to hang out with by these observers.

Talking about excessive usage of Facebook, here’s something we all need to know. A study published in American Journal of Epidemiology says the more time a person spends on Facebook, the more he or she is likely to deal with poor mental and physical health. Well, it is good to stay in touch with your near and dear ones online and there is no harm in posting stuff but only till the point this habit does not become an addiction. There is no use of a happening online life when you are struggling in the offline one, isn’t it?

(All images used here are representational)