On Facebook, what does the "it's complicated" relationship status really mean?
By YourTango — Written on Jan 24, 2011
What does Facebook's "it's complicated" relationship status mean to you? When you see it on someone's profile, what do you think?
The 'book provides a lot of specific options, so why go with "it's complicated" when you could choose:
- Single
- In a relationship
- Engaged
- Married
- In an open relationship
- Widowed
- Separated
- Divorced
Does "it's complicated" mean, "something's going on, but I don't want to say what it is"? Or even, "something's going on, but I don't know what it is"? If that's the case, why list your relationship status at all? Is "it's complicated" for your own benefit, for your friends, or for the person(s) involved in said complicated state of affairs?
"It's complicated" is on our minds because of this video from our advertising partner, Sony's Just Go With It, a comedy in which Adam Sandler is a dude who wears a wedding ring so women will be attracted to him but won't expect a real relationship. The scam backfires when he meets a woman he actually likes—who thinks he's married. So he pretends he's about to get divorced—talk about "It's complicated!"
Tell us: What you think when you see "it's complicated" on someone's profile?