New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Science & Tech
14 February 2016updated 01 Jul 2021 12:13pm

Facebook official: the rise and fall of the relationship status

In the Noughties, it was a relationship milestone. Now, it's just another dead feature. What happened? 

By Barbara Speed

In the 1950s, couples on US campuses took out ads in college newspapers to announce that their relationship was getting serious. 

In the Noughties, we had Facebook official. One of the social media site’s first features, rolled out while the network was still primarily used by students at US universities, was the “relationship status”. And at first, it was a successful one: a way for users to broadcast their personal lives to friends and ex-lovers, and another way to show off online.

Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
Antimicrobial Resistance: Why urgent action is needed
The role and purpose of social housing continues to evolve
More than a landlord: A future of opportunity
Topics in this article :